Betrayal
by Metal Flowers
Summary: Max and Dylan were kicked out and forced to work for the School, courtesy of the Flock. There, they gain some new friends and escape, creating a new life for themselves. However, a group called 'The Hunters' is determined to bring them down. With so many twists and turns, the ending is sure to be a surprise. Mylan, but mainly Fax.
1. Kicked Out

**Th Guy With Wings wanted this story, so I'll make this story! Tell me if this sucks or not!**

**Without Further Adieu (For those new to my stories, this is basically my trademark)**

MPOV

I woke up before my eyes opened. Something wasn't right and I listened. There were hushed voices. Before I could panic, I realized that it was the Flock. But then the voices turned into words.

"But it's not right-"

"We have to."

"But why?"

"Because it's better for us."

"She is getting worse…"

"Exactly."

"So when do we leave?"

"Right now."

"But what if she follows us? She could track our scent before."

"It's already taken care of."

"You didn't…"

"Oh, I did."

"Let's go."

At this exchange, I jumped up. While doing so, I realized that there was something around my neck. It felt like a metal collar. I saw the flock with backpacks on their backs getting ready to fly off.

"Where are you going?" I asked sarcastically, "Out for a late night fly? Getting groceries?"

Gazzy and Fang looked at their feet guiltily. My eyes widened at that. They were going to leave me behind. And without a note, too.

"We're leaving Max," Angel glared icily at me, "And you can't stop us."

"Why would I stop you?" I raised an eyebrow at her, "I mean, even if I could take all of you on, what's stopping you from leaving later?"

"You're not going to even try?" Nudge asked hurtfully.

I whirled on her, "Don't act like you're the one who should be hurt! You're the one who wanted to leave!"

"You're making a big mistake," Dylan hissed at them. I still had one person on my side? Okay then. Great!

"And look who comes to her rescue," Fang sneered jealously, "Hello Mr. Perfect."

I looked at Dylan and saw that he was also wearing a metal collar. It had an Itex logo on it.

"Sorry Max," Angel looked like she had won a huge battle, but was strangely apologetic, "Sorry Dylan. But this is the only way,"

And right after that, a shock went through the collar that knocked me out right away. But I wasn't fully unconscious. I felt a hand petting my hair, a hand touching my cheek, and a set of lips brushing mine before I heard a big flapping of wings.

One person had stayed behind for a quick goodbye.

"Bye Max," Iggy's voice was tear filled, "And I'm sorry for what's going to happen to you two. But we had to sell you out. They said they'd stop hunting us altogether if we sold you out."

"Coward," I managed to choke out, "Traitor."

And then I heard him fly away. Sometime later, I was picked up into strong arms. Familiar arms. Arms that had done a lot of hurt to me.

"Hey birdies!" Ari chirped, "Time to go home! Home to the _School_!"


	2. Shock Collar

Here's the second chapter!

Without Further Adieu,

MPOV

I regained full consciousness a couple of hours later. I was in a large crate that Dylan was also in.

"Where the fuck are we?" I groaned groggily. My collar shocked me again. This time, it apparently was to cause me pain instead of put me out.

Anne Walker opened the door that I could see through the bars of the cage. She was wearing a white shirt and a black skirt.

"Now, now Maximum! We can't have you setting a bad example!" she trilled.

I glared at her, "Suck it."

The collar shocked me again and I winced.

Anne bent down to the cage's height, "Maximum, if you haven't guessed by now, we have full control on when the collars shock you. They will shock you if you do any of the following: Curse, Be impolite, Try to escape, Or engage in physical contact with the staff or fellow experiments."

"How did these fu- I mean fantastic collars get on us?" I asked her, not wanting to get shocked. But really, an Eraser couldn't have just snapped it one without me noticing in a fight.

"Oh, I believe we assigned that job to Angel," Anne smiled, "Lovely girl, really."

Angel did this to us? She sold us out? She put freaking collars on us? I'm ashamed to have cared for her. Ashamed to have been her mother.

"You'll do whatever Itex or the School has planned for you," Anne continued, "And that includes experiments, jobs, calming down other experiments, and eliciting the proper punishment."

"Punishment?" Dylan asked groggily. He had apparently just woken up.

"Minor injuries, taunting, and sometimes death." Anne shrugged, "Anything to get them to behave."

"What makes you think we'll behave?" I challenged.

"This," Anne said simply and brought out a black remote. She turned it on to the highest setting and presses a red button. Doesn't she know to never press a red butt-

I gasped and gripped my sides. It felt like I was burning from the inside out. I was being electrocuted. I think my hair was burning. I was being burned alive. It felt…horrible.

"Stop," I begged. And that just proved Anne's point. If they could convince Maximum Ride to beg, they could get me to do anything.

Anne turned it off and Dylan rushed to embrace me. We both received a minor shock.

"No physical contact," Anne reminded us, "Now stand up. We've got work for you to do."

We stood up and followed Anne stiffly to a room full of cages. She pointed at a cage with a prone body in it.

"That one retired a few hours ago," she wrinkled her nose, "Dispose of it."

We went to the cage and took out the body. We dumped it down a trash shoot. The body was horribly mutated into some combination of cat and mouse.

Anne had us walk to a cage with a girl who was very much alive. She had black hair and golden eyes.

"Experiment 229!" she snapped.

The girl looked up lazily, "My name is Shimmer, thank you very much."

Anne snorted, "My apologies, Shimmer. And back to my original point, I'd like to introduce you to your idols, Maximum Ride and Dylan."

The girl pressed her face to the bars of her cage and appraised us. She noticed the totally defeated look in my eyes. I saw them reflected back in her eyes. I had realized that Dylan and I weren't getting out of this. If we even tried to escape, they'd freeze us with our own pain.

"That's not them," Shimmer said stubbornly, "Maximum and Dylan would be more smart ass like.

Anne grabbed my collar and I stumbled towards her.

"This is our new invention. It literally shocks the life out of those who wear it. Say hi Maximum." Anne ordered.

I squared my jaw. One, she was speaking to me like I was a dog. And two, Maximum Ride does not take orders.

"Good," Anne smiled, "A demonstration."

She took out the remote and before she could press the button I turned to Shimmer.

"Hello Shimmer," I greeted her under Anne's stare.

Shimmer's eyes widened, "Oh god Anne, what have you done?"

Shimmer's hand reached out and grabbed my shirt, "Maximum, I will help you. I promise."

I shook my head, "Don't."

I tore my shirt from her grip. Anne looked on approvingly.

"Good Max," she cooed. Why did my name have to be a dog's name?

"Let's go," Anne said breezily, "I think that Shimmer has gotten the point,"

Shimmer stared at me thoughtfully as we left, immersed in her own thoughts. 


	3. Blaze Storm

Revised: 4-23-12

Without Further Adieu,

MAXPOV

"Follow me," Anne called us over and we silently followed her into a large conference room. There were several familiar people there. Mr. Chu, Jeb, The Director, Ter Bocht, basically anyone that I had ticked off.

"We have found ways to restrain resistant experiments," Anne smiled, "And I've brought you together today to show you how it works."

"Vat iz it?" Ter Bocht asked curiously. He had a large bruise on his forehead from where Angel bashed it in with a crowbar.

"The Z generation shock collar," Anne answered, "It works by sending shock waves through the receiver's brain. The shocks can be altered to deliver pain or knock out the subject. It is very effective, right Maximum?"

"Yes Anne," I replied. I hated being treated like a dog, but what choice did I have? I should save my strength in case some miraculous opportunity for escape comes along.

"Is there a distance where it stops working?" Mr. Chu asked maliciously.

Anne shook her head, "It's connected to many servers across the world, so there's no spot that the collar will stop working."

"Does it work on other experiments?" Jeb asked her. That traitor! Was he seriously thinking of putting this on more mutants?

Anne looked slightly distressed, "Well Maximum and Dylan were our beta testers for the collar, and Dylan is naturally docile so we have no way of knowing…"

Jeb smirked, "Yes, we do have some way of knowing. I'll be right back."

And then he exited the room. He was heading towards the room with the cages. The containment room. Oh god, he was going to get some other poor mutant to test it on. Hopefully it wasn't Shimmer.

Max, the voice appeared in my head, Act normal.

I smiled blankly and gazed across the crowd. I looked genuinely empty.

Max, the voice began again, Listen to me. Yes, I am getting another mutant. You have to meet her. I'm planning your escape. If you escape on your own with Dylan, they'll catch you. I'm assembling a new Flock that will be able to evade Itex.

I blinked. Obviously, I hadn't been expecting this. Jeb was being good again? Awesome.

Jeb entered the room again soon with a girl that looked so much like Iggy, I wanted to cry. She had strawberry blond hair, was tall, Caucasian, but the most dreadful similarity was her pale clouded eyes. She was blind.

"This is Blaze Storm," Jeb announced, "she is gifted in telekinesis even though she is just a clone."

Ah, he was playing the 'I don't care because they're nothing to me' strategy. Clever. He would be too suspicious if he acted like he cared.

Anne placed a spare collar on Blaze and tightened it. Blaze stiffened and gasped. Anne turned on the electricity. Blaze gritted her teeth but there was no other indication that she was in pain.

"Apologize to those you've spited and it'll stop." Anne smiled. Do it, I begged her silently, It gets worse.

"Hell no," Blaze laughed, "Get it? It's hello with an extra N!"

Anne shook her head disdainfully, "It's time for your bad jokes to come to an end."

Anne turned up the pressure and Blaze dropped to the ground. Still, Blaze refused to break. I respected this girl. She lasted as long as me.

Blaze gave up, "Sorry Jeb and Ter Bocht."

Anne turned the remote off and faced the crowd, "See? Under pressure, any mutant will submit!"

Anne took out a key and unlocked the collar. Blaze gasped as soon as it was off.

"Now will someone please escort Maximum, Dylan, and Blaze back to their cages?" Anne requested.

"I will," Jeb volunteered.

Anne shook her head, "You know we can't let you do that. Not after you let Maximum escape before."

"Then I'll go with him," the Director volunteered, "I have no further questions."

The Director and Jeb shuffled us to the Containment room. It was very dim and smelled like death. Looks like there will be another body for us to move soon.

"Where is your cage?" the Director demanded.

Up to the right, the Voice answered.

But mine is to the left, I thought in confusion.

Just say it, the Voice hissed.

"Up to the right," I said, blindly trusting the Voice's commands.

We went that way and came across an empty cage marked 'Maximum and Dylan' beside it had a sign that said 'Blaze Storm'.

"In you go," Jeb said cheerfully and we climbed inside. They walked away and I looked at Blaze. Dylan did too.

"There are no transmitters in the collars or cages," Blaze said, "I've had someone check them already."

"You knew about the collars?" I asked her.

Blaze nodded, "I heard you screaming the other day so I got curious. Who're you anyway?"

"I'm Maximum Ride," I introduced myself, "And this is Dylan."

"Dylan?" Blaze questioned, "No last name?"

Dylan shrugged, "I don't need one for people to recognize me."

Blaze and I bristled and Dylan amended, "But you guys don't either. Yours fits you two, though."

"Wait a minute, back up," Blaze motioned with her hands, "You're Maximum Ride? Where's the rest of the Flock?"

I laughed coldly, "Who do you think put us in here?"

Blaze gasped, "All of them betrayed you?"

"They said that if they turned us in, the School'd stop looking for them," I laughed coldly again, "Like the School will keep that promise!"

Blaze rolled her unseeing eyes, "Idiots. Even if the School would uphold their end of the deal, you just don't throw out your leader. You don't throw out family."

"You sure they can't hear what we're saying?" I asked Blaze.

She made an annoyed sound, "I already said that I had someone check it out!"

"What were you going to say?" Dylan asked me. I got back on track.

"Jeb's getting us out soon," I confided, "He's building a Flock for us and then he's breaking us out."

"Does that mean…" Blaze trailed off, unable to say the words in case she was wrong.

"It means you're family now," I smiled wickedly, "And we're busting out of this hell hole soon."

"So," a voice said from beside us, "Am I part of this plan?"

Shimmer's black hair covered most of her face but her golden eyes glowed. I could see why they called her Shimmer.

"Hell yes!" I laughed, "But we need a backup escape plan."

"I'm not leaving without Rose," Shimmer said stubbornly, "I'm not leaving her here."

"Okay," I shrugged, "What cage is she in?"

"She's on the other side of the room," Shimmer informed us, "She has long brown hair and blue eyes. She can heal people and read minds. She's really sweet."

"Speaking of, what can you all do?" I asked them. I was curious.

"I can move stuff with my mind," Blaze informed me, "I'm Generation 86 people!"

"Gen 86?" Dylan questioned.

"Generation 86's are mutants that the school experimented on to make us able to use all of our brain. It unlocks powers like controlling light, water, just stuff like that." Blaze informed us.

"I'm Generation 86 too," Shimmer said smugly, "I can change appearances and if you look into my eyes, I can make you do whatever I want,"

"Wow," I widened my eyes, "I wish I wasn't so Gen 74."

Shimmer shrugged and said, "But it doesn't matter what Generation you are. You're the best out of all of us. There's a reason why the School wants you."

Blaze touched Dylan's arm through the bars of the cage, and I welled up with jealousy, "And what can you do? Make every girl in the room want you?"

Dylan shrugged away from her, "I was designed to be Max's perfect mate. I'm her boyfriend."

Wait...what did Dylan just say? Boyfriend? I wasn't! I mean, I was Fang's, but...

Like always, I escaped my problems. Instead of dealing with it, I fell asleep. 


	4. Freedom

MPOV

I woke up and found a different mutant in my cage. First, I silently looked around for Dylan. Dylan was in the cage beside Blaze, staring at me. He looked as confused as I was on how we were moved without us knowing.

Then I looked at the immediate threat, the girl in my cage. The girl in my cage was young, maybe twelve or thirteen or so, and looked extremely innocent. She had longish light brown hair. She looked tired, the kind of tired you can only get after a hard day of test. I warily let my guard down.

I put a hand on her shoulder, but then stopped myself from waking her up. She looked so tired, and I didn't want to wake her up just so that she could experience this hell hole for a couple extra minutes.

But then she whimpered and I realized that she was having a nightmare that was probably worse than just sitting in a cage. I woke her up.

"Hey," I whispered in her ear, "Wake up little girl."

She yawned and opened her eyes. They were brown and trusting. That was rare. Usually only the bad ass mutants survive, but she was innocent. How the hell did she survive?

"Who are you?" she asked sleepily. Her mouth opened into a tiny 'o'.

"My name's Max," I smiled as to keep her calm, "What's your name?"

"Rose," she answered. Her eyes raked over the blistered skin that touched my shock collar. She rose her hand to touch it and I flinched away. Touching blistered skin is not a good idea, and I speak from experience.

"Don't," she ordered, her voice sharp. Hoping that she knew what she was doing, I let her touch my skin. Where she touched it, the skin healed. It felt cool and smooth when I grasped it in shock.

"How did you do that?" I asked her in shock. She's special. Her healing power could explain how she managed to survive.

"I'm Generation 86. What are you?" she said.

"Generation seventy-three." I answered, "Otherwise known as Maximum Ride."

"So you're the girl that Jeb told us about," Rose guessed, her cheeks flushing in excitement, "The one that's going to free us!"

"Who has Jeb told about me?" I asked her, "And keep your voice down."

Rose looked around at the sleeping mutants, "He told me and my friend Willow. He said that we could help you."

And since they thought I was going to save them, I now felt like I had to. I couldn't take away their hope like that. And what if we got caught because of them? We just had to deal, I guess. And besides, I could get them all out. I always had a plan.

"What's Willow like?" I asked Rose. She closed her eyes for a second in thought, trying to think of the right words.

"You'll just have to meet her yourself," a voice behind me stated. I whirled around in the small cage and found myself face to face with another little girl. This one looked a bit younger than Rose.

"Willow?" I guessed. She nodded. Willow looked a bit like Rose. She had long dark brown hair, but hers had lighter brown streaks. Her eyes were a deep emerald that contrasted with her olive skin.

She leaned into my cage and leaned towards my neck. What is with these girls and touching my neck?

Instead of touching my neck like I thought she would, her hand gripped around my collar. I felt her tense up and then let go of it. The collar felt heavier when she let go, and it was without it's normal buzz of electricity.

"I killed it," Willow told me, "Jeb told me to. And he also said that today you'll have to do everything right so that Anne won't try to shock you."

I heard a door open and a set of heels clicking. I shoved Willows hand back into her cage and hissed.

"Pretend to be asleep," I ordered. I sat up straighter as Anne appeared in my view.

"Hello Anne," I greeted obediently. She without a word opened my and Dylan's cage and I restrained myself from attacking her. It would be so easy to wrap my hands around her throat…

But then my cover would be blown and we couldn't escape. So I held back. My hands twitched with frustration.

FIVE HOURSE LATER

Anne put Dylan and I back in our cages and left without a word. She hadn't spoken to us all day.

Willow was watching us and gestured to Dylan. He was put in my cage today and Rose was in Willow's. They really had to get our cage arrangements right. I smirked as I thought this. It wouldn't matter how they switched us around because we'd be out of here soon. I pressed Dylan against the cage and Willow shorted his collar out. I heard heavy footsteps.

"Are the collars disabled?" Jeb asked as soon as he was in earshot.

"Yes, are we ready to go?" I asked him. He nodded and unlocked all of our cages. I surveyed our group. Blaze, Shimmer, Rose, Willow, and Dylan were all accounted for. But Blaze looked a little unsteady on her feet.

I went and put her arm around my shoulder. She immediately tried to pull away but I gripped her arm tightly.

"I don't need your help just because I'm blind," she growled.

I snorted, "I've heard it all before. But face the facts. I don't care how hurt your ego is. I'd rather us be free than you have your pride. And we're going to a place that you don't know, so you can't navigate. Now let's go."

She relented and let me support her. Jeb guided us to a nearby exit. It was clear that there were no guards here.

"Are you coming?" I asked him. He was a bit slow himself, though he was ushering us eagerly.

He shook his head sadly, "No Max, I'm not. I've just evacuated all the mutants that have a chance of living. And I'm going down with my ship."

He held up a timer that was slowly counting down. 30…29…28…27…

"No!" I shrieked and Shimmer covered my mouth. He was going to sacrifice himself to set us free.

I struggled against her but by the time I got free, the timer was at fifteen. There was no time for a human to get to the door in time. I made a split decision and hugged Jeb.

"Love you Dad." I whispered and spun around. I shoved Blaze at Shimmer and they ran out the door. I slung Rose on top of my shoulder and I picked up Willow by the waist. I opened my wings.

7…6… I took a running start…5…4…3... used my super speed…2…1… and got out of the School just as a big BOOM! Shook the earth. I hit the floor and put Rose and Willow under me, protecting them from falling debris. I stared in horror for a minute at the sight. Jeb was gone, but so were Anne, the Director, Mr. Chu, and Ter Bocht. Their meeting about the shock collar was still going on. And now anyone that really wanted to kill me was dead.

I turned to the rest of my flock. I set Rose and Willow down. Blaze was smiling really hard, "Did you hear that explosion? I give that an eleven out of ten!"

"That was pretty awesome." Shimmer agreed. The rest nodded.

I realized that none of them knew who Jeb was too me. They knew that I was Maximum, leader of the flock. But none of them really knew who I was. Who I am. No one but Dylan, who was looking at me sympathetically.

"Let's get somewhere safe," I ordered, "Then we'll introduce ourselves."

We opened up our wings. Rose had cool looking dark purple wings with red tips, Blaze's wings were a sandy tan mixed with white, Willow had dark blue wings, and Shimmer had pitch black wings. I was jealous of Generation 86's wings.

We flew over a nearby forest until we arrived at a small meadow with a creek running through it.

"I want to go first," Shimmer volunteered, "Since I was the first person you met."

"Well, I call myself Shimmer because of my eyes. They shimmer and glow when I'm manipulating somebody. I can also change some one's appearance." She shrugged and looked at Blaze to go next. The look was lost on her, though.

"Blaze," I nudged her, "You go."

"I'm super strong and can move things with my mind. I'm blind, but if you treat me like I'm any different than you, I will punch you in the face." She shared.

Rose went next, "I'm an empath which means I can sense your emotions. And I can move things with my mind. My best friend is Shimmer."

This girl was so sweet. So kind. She was like a before picture of Angel. You know, before she went all 'I'm really a demon' on us. I might really like her after I make sure she's not a spy.

"My name's Willow," Willow said breezily, "I can see glimpses of the future and can control electricity. And I enjoy kicking butt in my spare time."

"I'm Max, as you all know. I used to be part of the Flock." I said tightly. Everything I could tell them was tainted. They would pity me. What was I supposed to say, Hey! my family kicked me out and the man who just blew up was my father! Your turn Dylan!

"That's not all," Blaze stared at me without seeing, "You told some of us earlier about the Flock."

I crossed my arms, "Fine then. You want the whole truth? The Flock kicked me and Dylan out and put the shock collars on us. They're why we're in the School. And here's another piece of information about me. Jeb, the man who just rescued us? The man who just blew up in front of our faces? He was my Dad. Now, did you really need to know that?"

There was a silence before Shimmer said something. She reached over and took my hand with hers.

"Yes," she said tearfully, "We did. Bad things happen to everyone. We get that. But it matters to us because we're family now."

Dylan gripped me in a small, careful hug, "Remember that. All of us will always be here for you."

"As long as you're here for us that is," Willow picked at her fingernails, "But yeah. We're here."

I looked around at all of them. Willow was looking away, but I could still see the gratitude and loyalty on her face. Rose was open, not caring who came and saw her kindness. Shimmer was tough, but she was crying. She cared for me, a practical stranger. Blaze was tilting her face up, feeling the sun rays on her skin. I could see that she was trying to distance herself from this emotional get together. I put a hand on Blaze's shoulder.

"Blaze, don't worry," I smiled at her even though she couldn't see, "You can take part in the tears if you want."  
"No thanks," she said dryly, "But like Willow, yeah. I'm here."

I turned to Rose and messed up her hair, "I'm here for you too, Rose. Always."

She beamed at me and I blinked. If she had blond hair and blue eyes...

I turned away from that train of thought and gripped Willow's shoulder, "I don't care if you don't think you need my help. I'm here."

I passed over Dylan. He didn't need to know that I'd be there for him. We both knew.

I gazed at Shimmer. She was genuinely sad for me. But she wasn't pitying. She knew that i was strong and could get over it on my own, but she wanted to help. We could easily be best friends, as cliche as it sounds.

"I'm here," I said simply. 


	5. Bonding

"You're leader, right?" Blaze asked me. I guess I had just assumed that I was.

"She is," Shimmer confirmed for me. Thank god she did. That could've been catastrophic. If you just arrogantly say you are, someone will challenge you. If you say you aren't, someone will take your place. If you hesitate, you're seen as someone who can't make a decision.

"Then Max," Blaze turned her body towards me, "How do we…I don't know…blend with humans?"

"The basic ways to not be spotted?" I thought for a second, "I guess pull in your wings, get normal clothes, and stand out."

"Stand out?" Rose asked confusedly. I guess it would be a bit confusing to answer how to blend in.

"Hide in plain sight," Dylan clarified. That was a good way of putting things.

"If you try to blend in and disappear, you'll stand out because what group of teenagers ever want to blend in? I'm not saying act out or lift a car, I'm saying pretend like you're not on the run. Window shop or buy a donut." I explained.

"What are donuts?" Willow scrunched up her nose in confusion.

"Yeah, I'm confused about that too," Blaze admitted.

"Aren't they supposed to be really good?" Shimmer asked me hopefully.

I face-palmed myself, "If I had the Max card, we would be flying to a donut shop right now."

"The Max card?" Rose's eyes lit up in realization, "Do you mean a piece of plastic with your name on it?"

I nodded slowly, "Yeah, how did you know?"

Rose searched a pocket of her hospital gown. She came out with a familiar card and handed it to me. The cold plastic gave me hope.

"But I can't use it," I sighed, my hopes squashed, "They'll know we're still alive."

"Jeb said something," Rose frowned, trying to remember. She started drumming her fingers on her leg absentmindedly.

"I remember," Willow nodded slowly, "He said that the card was untraceable. Like Fang's computer, whatever that is."

"It was a computer we stole that no one could ever trace," I explained, "And if the card is like that…"

"Donuts?" Rose asked hopefully.

I nodded and smiled, "Yeah. Donuts. But first we get new clothes to blend in and other stuff we need."

(Ten minute time skip)

We went into a random store that had basically all kinds of clothes known to man or mutant bird kid, as the situation may be. I had the strange urge to be the one to shop with Rose.

"Lets split up," I announced, "I'll pair with Rose. Shimmer, you pair with Willow. And Blaze, you pair with Dylan. Try not to jump him, okay?"

"Okay," she said sheepishly. We looked really weird hanging around in hospital gowns but the store was nearly empty.

"Meet back in half an hour," I checked my watch, "So at four thirty. And there's no spending limit so buy whatever you want. It's the School's money we're draining."

I took Rose's hand and headed to the juniors section. She was too tall for the children's clothes, so we had to shop here.

"Max?" Rose tugged on my shirt, "I have to tell you something."

"Hm?" I responded, "What is it?"

"Have you ever wondered why our hair colors are exactly the same? Well the brown part anyway." She asked me, frowning a bit at the end.

"No, it hasn't really occurred to me," I said. I didn't see where this was going.

"Well some people are created to be clones, or perfect halves. For me, they took some leftover DNA from Mrs. Martinez –they preserved it, by the way- and some of Jeb's DNA and…you know…created me."

"So that means," I widened my eyes in understanding, "You're my sister?"

"I-is that a bad thing?" she asked me nervously, gauging my feelings.

I shook my head, "No. It's wonderful, but it's a lot to take in."

"Um, and the other's kind of already know," she smiled sheepishly about it, "Even Dylan. I just wanted to tell you alone."

I didn't really have to think about it. It was natural to take Rose's hand in mine. Like it's not weird for Dylan to be my perfect half. It's natural. It's just who they are.

"Well sis," I smiled in disbelief, "Let's uh…get you some clothes. And shoes."

Instead of going to the bright and colorful clothing like I thought she would, she went and to a whole different section of clothes altogether. She picked out a pair of ripped gray skinny jeans and a skin tight but stretchy green top. All in all, she looked…I don't know. Not like a sweet Rose, like a thorny rose. If that even makes any sense.

She tried it on and I tried to take in the new image. Rose's long brown hair swept down over the back of her shirt and the skinny jeans showed her leg's length. She looked like a prep, but not a skanky prep. Just a person that really cared about not looking all bloody and stuff.

"How do I look?" she twirled around and her hair flew around a bit.

"You're getting that, right?" I asked in an answer. Rose giggled and nodded.

"I am so glad to call you my sister," I told her.

"Now it's your turn since the School got rid of your clothes when you came there!" she said and dragged me through the store. After a lot of appraising looks from Rose, I ended up with a shirt almost identical to hers but in brown, boot cut jeans, and a necklace with a pair of wings on it.

"We look pretty," Rose said while looking in a mirror. I could see the similarities now. Our hair was mostly the same color and our skins were the same tan. She had Jeb's eyes while I had Mrs. Martinez's.

"We blend in now," I said simply, "Now let's check on everyone else."

We traveled through the store and came to Shimmer and Willow. Willow was trying on a gray, loose shirt and skinny jeans and Shimmer was trying on a black, buttoned down, long sleeved shirt and black jeggings.

"I approve fully," I said. We didn't feel like changing back into our hospital gowns so I just decided that we'd pay when we got to the counter. We could do that.

Dylan had just decided to go with a plain blue shirt that brought out his eyes. Blaze was…wow. She looked badass but pretty, I'd give her that compliment and more. She had on a plain white Tee on, light colored jeans with a few rips, a leather jacket on, black boots, leather fingerless gloves, and spiky jewelry. She really took 'no spending limit' seriously.

Deciding that we were all fit, we went to the register and paid. The sales clerk thought it was weird that we still had on the clothes that we were buying, but she didn't put up a fight.

"Donuts?" Shimmer reminded me.

I rolled my eyes, "I haven't forgotten."

I led them to a Dunkin' Donuts and ordered a large container full of glazed. Yum. I handed one to each of the Flock.

"Ew, this feels all sticky," Blaze complained.

"It tastes really good," I rolled my eyes, "I'm rolling my eyes, Blaze,"

She nibbled the donut and exclaimed, "Hey! This is good!"

Taking her word for it (Blaze was a picky eater, so anything she liked must be good); the others started to chow down.

"Dis ith Awefom." Rose said with her mouth full. I translated that into 'This is awesome!'

"Best thing ever!" Willow agreed. She had at least swallowed her food.

"Thanks so much Maxie!" Shimmer agreed. They all took seconds and thirds, not wasting a crumb.

"They're happy," Dylan smiled at me, "You're a good leader."

"Thanks Dylan," I smiled back at him, "That means a lot."

And it did. He was my right hand man now and if he said I was a good leader, I was obviously doing something right. And looking at the others in my Flock, I believed that fully. 


	6. Keeping Your Head

Okay, so here's an informational A/N on how to FREAKING TURN ON YOUR PM SETTINGS! Go to your setting page. Look for the word PM something or other. It'll be in the little square with all the 'disable' and 'enable' buttons. Click ENABLE. Now, you can receive PM's.

Question: How about this, go read Waterbender of the South's story 'thoughts of a savior'. It's a fanfics of Tess's POV.

The Max card paid for everything right away, if you'd believe it. It doesn't matter how expensive the thing is, it pays for it. It must be unlimited or something.

And that was why we were standing inside the penthouse suite that we had just rented for the next ten years. The receptionist had bugged her eyes out when she rung us up. She probably got promoted for making this sale.

"This is ours?" Rose was gaping. I gently closed her mouth shut.

"You'll catch flies if you stay that way," I teased her, "But yeah. Ours."

"And there are seven bedrooms. If we each take one, we'd still have one left over," Shimmer noticed after exploring.

"I'm not sure I want to be alone though," Rose said simply. No one bothered with questioning her. We all had the nightmares. Monsters, scientists, Erasers…they all haunt our dreams.

"If there are six of us, we can all have a room partner," Blaze said, "How do we choose we gets who?"

"Let's just pick," Willow shrugged. I could see multiple things going wrong with that. What if two people wanted the same person? What if one person didn't get picked by anybody?

"We could uh…" Dylan thought for a moment, "Draw names?"

"That could solve stuff," I decided, "We'll do that."

We wrote our names on scraps of paper and made do by scrambling them in a purple bowl from the prestocked cabinets.

I drew Shimmer, Rose drew Willow, and Blaze drew Dylan. I could live with sharing my room with Shimmer and Rose would be ecstatic with sharing a room with Willow (and vice versa, though Willow won't sink to squealing). But Blaze and Dylan? Blaze was practically jumping him every five seconds!  
"Can I trust you two?" I asked them. Dylan's face flooded with embarrassment.

"Of course! I would never-" I cut him off and kissed him on the cheek. A show of ownership, kind of. Blaze could take a point.

Or not, "But Max! You know how Iggy is! He's pervy and I'm his clone! I've gotten all of his pervy DNA!"

"Then stare at Taylor Lautner!" I said cheekily. We had passed a magazine with his face on it and I literally had to drag Blaze away from it.  
"Fine then," she glared at me. I glared right back. This wasn't an 'end of the world' fight, but Dylan was mine. This was a bonafide cat fight.

"Stop," Willow said commandingly. I guess we could all play leader sometimes. The air suddenly crackled with tangible electricity.

"Blaze, back off. He's taken," Willow said calmly, "And Max, stop having a hissy fit. You can't let someone in your flock get to you like that."  
It was demeaning to get advice from a twelve year old, but it's happened before with Angel. I mentally cringed from the name. Normally, it wouldn't bother me. I could push down the betrayal I felt from her part in putting me here, but right now I couldn't fight it. I now was physically downbeat and the rest noticed.

"Oh god, sorry Max," Blaze apologized, "Are you sad because I was teasing you? I don't really like Dylan, he's just hot!"

"Don't worry," I rolled my eyes at her, "It's not that."

"Then what is it then?" Rose asked me.

"I'm not a very powerful, maybe I should've told you this, but yeah. I'm not a very powerful mind reader, but I can kind of get the gist of what you're thinking. Some little girl. An Angel?" Blaze trailed off at the end, looking confused.

"You were thinking about them," Dylan guessed.

"Who?" Willow wanted to know. The rest had caught on already and tried to shush her.

"The Flock," I answered for her. She nodded and shut up. We all have our weak points and we don't talk about them unless the person it affects brings it up. We don't talk about how Blaze was made to copy Iggy. We don't talk about how since Rose was made exactly the same way as me, they were probably hoping for another Max. We don't talk about the way Shimmer always just seems a bit too emotional. We don't bring up the scars on Willow's neck that everyone tries to ignore, even me. And we don't bring up the flock. That's what a family does. They listen, but they bury things that need to be buried.

"Oh," Willow said shortly. I saw something out the window and cursed slightly.

"What?" Blaze asked, hearing my intake of breath.

"The Flock," I repeated for an entirely different reason, "The Flock is here."

"Fight or flight?" Dylan asked me.

I answered right away, "Fight. We only us flight when we can't handle the threat."

"Then let's roll," Blaze said, snapping on her fingerless gloves again.

"No," Shimmer said and locked me in a choke hold. The others seemed to freeze in place. No one expected this to happen.

"Let go!" I struggled against her, but she didn't budge. It's fucking unfair that all the Generation 86's have extra strength built in them.

"No," Shimmer repeated, "You're not ready to face them. You'll mess up and get us seen."

As I thought back something to snap at her, I saw the five shapes disappear from view.

Rage gave me the strength to slip out of her choke hold. I faced her, already in battle position.

"What the hell was that?" I shouted at her, "We could've-"

"Could've what?" Shimmer interrupted me, "Beat them up? Taught them a lesson? Is it worth it? I mean, we've barely been out of the School for two hours! Do you want to get us thrown back in?

I prepared to launch myself at her, but then realized something. She was staring at me, but she wasn't using her power. That means that she didn't want to have to influence me. She wanted this done fair and square. It also meant that she thought that she was doing the right thing.

And now as I was calming down, I realized that she was right. If I let my emotions get the best of me, we would beat up the Flock, waste the nice house thing we had going on now, and possibly get captured.

And by the looks of every one's faces, they knew that too. They had been prepared to march into battle beside me, even if we weren't doing the right thing at all. It surprised me that it was Blaze who looked most determined to fight with me.

I needed to be more careful with my decisions because now the only person that would even question my sanity was Shimmer. If I decided to jump in a volcano, the rest would follow. That means that I have to keep my emotions in check.

"Let's just unpack," I sighed in defeat, "And I did go against my sane thinking when you weren't looking. I enrolled us in High school. We're all in the same grade, so Rose and Willow are really smart."

"What the hell?" Blaze sputtered, not expecting this at all.

"School?" Shimmer mused, "Huh. Actually some good thinking for once, Max."

"With small classrooms?" Willow said fearfully, though she would never admit it. She is kick ass Willow who is afraid of nothing after all! I hid a snicker and she continued, "I have claustrophobia.

"We all do," I rolled my eyes at her, "And the classrooms aren't all that small. It's the number of students I'm worried about."

"What?" Rose asked in a tone that mirrored Willow's. Hers had a bit more anxiety in it, though.

"Nothing to worry about," Dylan assured her as I said at the same time, "If the principal comes after you with a tazer, let me know, okay?"

Now, that sentence shouldn't have made them feel better about the situation, right? Wrong. Because if someone gives you a dream house for a great price, there's going to be something wrong with it unless it's not real, like a bird that always poops right outside your door. Well, the threat of possible school spies was the bird poop and the school is the dream house. The conditions and danger made it seem more real. 


	7. School Enrollment

Okay, I just wanted to write another chapter. I'm sure you guys don't mind, right?

Question: Which is cooler? A spy, assassin, or one of my chapters?

MAXPOV

We had already gone school shopping so we all had a new wardrobe, backpacks, and all the other junk that was clearance because it's halfway through the school year.

"I'm blind," Blaze groaned, "I shouldn't have to go."

"I've already explained your handicap and one of us are in all of your classes. I'm in your first, Rose is in your second, Shimmer's in your third and fourth, then lunch, I'm in your fifth too, and Dylan's in your sixth. Got that?"

She nodded and Rose asked me again for like the fifth time.

"So what's the story?" she tugged on my sleeve. It's like all the little girls I'm close to do that. Is there like a notification sent to them to do that every day?

"We're adopted siblings and I'm eighteen now so I can take care of all of you. Our parents are missionaries in Africa."

"Okay," Rose said, satisfied that she remembered the story- for now.

"Ready to go?" I asked everyone. They all gave back variations of yes, though some more enthusiastic than others. I had to change their attitude, or this may be hell to them.

"There'll be cute guys there," I mentioned. Blaze and Shimmer perked up, the only ones not fully convinced on my idea.

"Let's go," Blaze fist pumped and waltzed out the door, "Uh guys, aren't you coming?"

It was impossible to hold back our laughter. Blaze's sudden shift from lazy to sunshine was so comical.

"Let's go," I rolled my eyes and followed Blaze out the door. We walked to school since it was only a mile away. Humans probably wouldn't do this, but we were able to so everyone else can suck it.

I noticed the group go into formation around me. Dylan took my right and Shimmer took my left. Directly behind Dylan was Blaze and beside her was Willow. Rose happily brought up the rear. She was more of a behind the scenes person during a battle, so we made sure to keep her where she could be her best.

A bit later than expected since we were going at human pace, we got to the school. We didn't bother with waiting and just went into the office located directly in front.

"Hello," the receptionist greeted emotionless, "You must be the new Ride kids. What are your names again?"

"Maxine," I said. We had all created fake names that could be shortened to our nicknames if our names didn't quite fit into normal day life. Well, all of us but two. Namely, Blaze and Shimmer.

"I'm Blaze," Blaze said uninterestedly.

"Blaze?" the receptionist scrunched up her nose, "Is that a nickname?"

"Nope," she said, popping her lips at the P, "My very own mother gave it to me."

"All right then," the receptionist said as if the name offended her somehow.

"I'm Rosalie," Rose smiled. The receptionist glanced up dispassionately before looking down again. I saw a pen start to roll back and forth on the counter and I put a hand on Rose's shoulder so she'd control herself.

"My name's Shimmer," Shimmer said aloofly, making fun of the receptionist's tone.

"Are you related to Blaze?" the receptionist raised her eyebrows at the 'offending' name. Well, we're sorry for not coming up with practical names while growing up in the freaking school!

"Dylan," Dylan said simply. The receptionist drooled a bit while looking at him. Don't worry, she's not a pedophile. She looked only twenty years old.

"I'm Willow," named girl said while picking at her nails. Hadn't I done the same thing while introducing myself at the school with Anne? Willow was more like me than I thought.

"Okay, with this information we can fill out the rest of the paperwork," the lady said dispassionately. She was a very boring lady. She handed us our schedules and we quickly got out of that boring chamber called an office. We compared our schedules.

As predicted, one of us was always in anthers classroom. I would be in first period with Blaze, Shimmer, and Rose. The next class had Willow in it. Third period had Shimmer and I. Fourth period was art with Dylan. In fifth I had Blaze and in sixth I was with Shimmer again.

Perfect. 


	8. Vivian and Mind Control

Yay! I skipped school…er, I took a sick day. Because I'm sick. Or something. WELL THE DETAILS SHOULDN'T CONCERN YOU! You're getting a new chapter!

I REPLACED SENNA WITH VIVIAN SO READ THIS CHAPTER TOO!

Question: Have any of you ever read the Night World books?

MAXPOV

It turns out that the maze tests we had to do at the School were good for something. They increased my direction and instinct skills. This proved helpful when I had to lead the others to class.

We were already fifteen minutes late because of our interaction in the office, so when we headed into the classroom all of the eyes were on us. I worked hard to keep myself from going rigid and the others followed my lead.

"Hi," I strained to keep my voice normal, "I'm Maxine Ride. This is Mr. Hollingway's class, right?"

The teacher cleared his throat, "Yes. Uh, the desks in this classroom can seat up to five people since they are lab tables. There is one open table, an open seat with Ms. Vivian, and an open seat with Ms. Caitlin. I trust that you will be able to assist…uh…Ms. Blaze?"

"Yes Mr. Hollingsway," Rose reassured him. I didn't want Rose sitting next to a stranger and Blaze would need help, so they got the empty table. Shimmer chose to sit with Caitlin.

I didn't know who Vivian was, but I was able to locate the open seat quickly. Something didn't sit right with me about this girl, so I decided to study her.

She had very long pitch black hair, pale skin, and blue eyes. She looked hauntingly beautiful like Shimmer.

"Please don't stare," she whispered to me. Her voice was so quiet that even I had a hard time hearing it.

It was then that I noticed the slight bulge on her back. A bulge that made all of the flock wear at least something baggy or a jacket so that they didn't show. The bulge was of wings being pressed against a T-shirt.

Don't panic, I told myself. It could be her backbone or she could be a winged wannabe. No need to cause a disturbance. Even though I was telling myself this, I knew that it wasn't either of those options. Those wings were real but if I caused a fight right now, we'd have to leave anyway. And the girl didn't seem to realize I wasn't human yet. I'd tail her later.

The bell mercifully rang then and the girl swiftly exited the classroom. I had seen her folders and she had science next. The science wing was in the exact opposite direction.

I looked at Shimmer discreetly and she met my eyes. I broke eye contact and walked out the door. Shimmer walked close behind me as we followed Vivian.

Vivian walked up a flight of stairs that nobody seemed to be taking. We softly tailed her up the steps and saw her go through a door marked Limited Access: Roof in bold letters. After a brief nod from Shimmer, we walked through it.

I looked around and came face to face with...nothing. The girl had simply disappeared.

"Looking for someone?" Vivian whispered to my right as a safety on a gun clicked off, "Because I'm not going back to that hell hole. I don't care how many people I have to shoot when they come after me."

"Shimmer," I whispered, "Use your power, now."

Vivian snorted, "I think I'm the one with the power right now. You're going to tell me how you guys keep finding me."

"Idiot," I growled through my teeth, "You're less than five miles away from a school. Think there's only going to be school agents coming through?"

Vivian laughed, "Ha! Are you saying that you're innocent?"

"Yeah," I growled, "And if you don't put that gun away right now, I'm going Maximum Ride all over you."

The girl froze at my name and that was all I took. I ducked and slid out of the way and Shimmer stepped into my place. Vivian assessed Shimmer as a possible threat and was caught when she looked into Shimmer's eyes.

It was creepy and fascinating to see what happened. Vivian's blue eyes enlarged and the pupils went away. All that was left was a large mass of blue.

"What do you want to know?" Shimmer asked me while still holding Vivian's gaze.

"If she means any innocent mutants any harm," I frowned when I said this, "Actually no. Ask her if she's working for the school. That would cover everything I need to know."

If someone points a gun to my head, I'm going to ask that question. It doesn't matter whose team you say you're on if you go around shooting your own.

Shimmer repeated my question and when Vivian answered, her voice was blank and lifeless.

"No," she answered.

"Does she mean us any harm?"

"No."

"How did she escape then?"

"Scientist left my cage unlocked," Vivian's eyes seemed to retract a bit.

"I'm losing her," Shimmer warned me, "If you want me to do something, say it quick."

"Make her lose all of her mistrust towards us. It'll save time since she's innocent," I decided.

"You won't mistrust any of Max's family," Shimmer said calmly and blinked. The link between them was gone and Vivian grabbed her head.

"Wow," she groaned, "Major head rush. Wait, why are we on the roof?"

I thought of a lie fast, "I saw that you had wings and I brought you up here to talk. Shimmer's my friend. We got to the part that we won't hurt each other and stuff but then you got really dizzy."

"And you pulled a gun on us," Shimmer chuckled, putting all of our cards on the table, "You thought we worked for the school."

"Wait," Vivian's eyes lit up, "You're like me?"

I nodded, "Yeah, we all are. I'm Max and this is Shimmer. My other family is somewhere downstairs but I don't think I should bother going back to class. There's only about ten minutes left now."

Vivian looked confused for a moment but brightened, "I must really be out of it. It doesn't feel like twenty minutes gone by. But anyway, hi! My name's Vivian but you can call me Viv. Wait; do you and your family need a place to stay? If you don't you could live on the roof with me. It's not all that fancy, but it's something..."

She lives on the roof? She seems so nice and optimistic that it seems cruel to let her do that while we lived in a hotel.

"You get to live with us now," I crossed my arms, "No arguments about it. Okay?"

"It won't do you any good to fight with her when she's like this," Shimmer rolled her eyes; "Max is really stubborn."

Viv looked confused again, "But where do you live? And I just can't come live with you..."  
"Why not?" I asked her.

"I would be intruding!" she said loudly.

I shook my head, "I invited you and we have way too many rooms."

Viv again hesitated, "Well...if it won't be a big inconvenience to you... I guess."

Viv was optimistic but she still had her doubts about us. Shimmer's mind controlling erased most of her anxiety, but it was still there. It was small, but it was there. I think I might think of her as family soon instead of just someone I took in because she had wings.

It's strange that she was here and we met her, but coincidences happen. And as I said, we are less than a couple miles from the school. We're hiding in plain sight. They never would have thought of looking for us here. 


	9. Dylan Left

MayonakaGirl, the Expiration Date is going to wrap up in the next ten (or Twenty, you never know) chapters. I'll fit Blaze in if I can. I just wanted you to know that your reviews have not gone unnoticed.

Pennycat and Bobo, HI! What is up my anons? How's life?

I can't write Mylan. Sorry. I love it, but I can't write it.

BUT GUESS WHAT? MAX HAS A BLOG AND IT SAYS THAT SHE WENT ON A DATE WITH DYLAN!

AND GUYS! PLEASE CREATE HUNGER GAMES TRIBUTES FOR STARKID9934's story! Please!

Without Further Adieu,

MAXPOV

I had Vivian wait outside during lunch. As she walked out, we noticed that she unconsciously moved out of the way of everyone. Not once did she bump into somebody.

I looked at Shimmer, "Did I make the right decision by letting her stay with us?"

"It depends on how you look at it," she said vaguely, "I mean, she's not going to hurt us. When I linked my mind to hers, she had to tell the truth. But now we're a seven person flock. It'll be harder to hide now."

"We're putting her in danger now," I realized, "Since the school is looking for us."

"It doesn't matter now, I guess," she said, "You've already invited her into our family. We'll just have to deal."

It's times like this that I think Shimmer is my real second in command. Dylan should be since I've known him longer, but he usually just agrees with me to keep me happy. Shimmer looks on both sides of the argument and comes to a logical conclusion.

"Here are the others now," Shimmer said and gestured with her head to where they stood. They were looking around uncertainly and I waved them over.

"Where were you Max?" Willow said irritably, "I had to go there by myself."

"Really?" Shimmer raised her eyebrow, "We were having a relatively dangerous time ourselves."

"What happened?" Blaze wanted to know. Her hands were shoved into her pockets. I realized that she must be suffocating in the sound that the other students caused.

"We found another mutant like us," I said in a hushed tone, "Her name is Vivian. Thanks to Shimmer's mind control, we found that she was completely innocent. When Shimmer and I were sure that we could trust her, I invited her to live at the hotel with us."

"Why?" Dylan said in shock.

"Because we can trust her and she freezes her ass off every night because she has to sleep on the roof," I said immediately, "Any other questions?"

Suddenly, Dylan grabbed my arm and dragged me off to the other side of the cafeteria. No students looked up at us.

"This is way too crazy," he snapped at me, "I'm used to backing you up, but I just can't on this."

"What do you mean?" I asked him in a worried voice.

"I mean that I'm not just going to deal with this danger that you're putting everyone in. You're supposed to be saving the world. That was fine with me. You enrolled us in School. That was less fine with me. There's more chance of us getting caught. But this? You're inviting a random stranger into our home! How the hell am I supposed to deal with this?"

"We can trust her," I said. I tried to keep my voice from shaking and barely succeeded. Dylan never cussed. Ever.

"You don't know that!" he hissed, "She might be invulnerable to mind control! Angel couldn't control you!"

He hadn't seen the way Vivian's eyes disappeared. He hadn't heard the blank tone of her voice. He hadn't seen the way that her face drained of emotion.

"You don't understand," I tried to explain but he cut me off.

"No Max. You don't understand. I can't back you up on this. I'm done," he shook his head.

"What do you mean?" I asked him desperately. I tried to take his hand but he pulled it away.

"It means I'm leaving," he gently kissed my forehead, "Find me if you ever come to your senses."

He leaned back and walked out the doors. He didn't once look back.

I sank to my knees and felt the rest of my Flock crowd around me plus one. Vivian had come inside and was now holding my hand.

"What happened?" Shimmer asked me. Her voice was really close to my ear. Someone patted my hair.

I felt broken. I felt cold and broken. I closed my eyes.

"Dylan left," I uttered and fainted. 


	10. In the Night

Okay, since people want another chapter on this, I'll give you another chapter!

Without Further Adieu,

MAXPOV

"You expect me to just lie down while you let that murderer come near us?" Fang growled at me. Ari had just come with the Flock since we escaped from the school.

"He helped us escape!" I cried at him. Fang's furious expression didn't budge.

"He tried to kill us!" he cried back at me.

The scene changed. The forest around swirled and became a cafeteria. The pounding rain became a burble of talking. The swaying grasses became people. And most importantly, Fang became Dylan.

"This is way too crazy," he snapped at me, "I'm used to backing you up, but I just can't on this."

"I mean that I'm not just going to deal with this danger that you're putting everyone in. You're supposed to be saving the world. That was fine with me. You enrolled us in School. That was less fine with me. There's more chance of us getting caught. But this? You're inviting a random stranger into our home! How the hell am I supposed to deal with this?"

"No Max. You don't understand. I can't back you up on this. I'm done," he shook his head.

He walked out of the cafeteria and I felt Shimmer's hand on my shoulders.

"You don't have to relive this!" she cried, "You're dreaming. Wake up!"

I gasped and broke out of my dream. When I came to, I realized that Shimmer had opened my eyes and entered my mind. I guess since she can control minds, she can see into them too.

I saw that we were in my room in the hotel. Only Shimmer and Blaze were with me.

"The kids are asleep," Blaze yawned, "It's like midnight."

Knowing that only Blaze and Shimmer could hear me, I cried. The great and powerful Maximum Ride was crying. It was like when Fang left, but worse. Because now, I didn't have my Flock. I was alone.

"It's okay," Shimmer said and gave me a hug. Blaze put a hand on my shoulder.

Maybe, just maybe…I wasn't all alone. Maybe I could trust my new flock.

Actually, I could. I never trusted Dylan fully, but I'd trust any one of my new Flock with my life. They'd each be capable of this life. They'd help me.

But even still, I couldn't bear it. I was left by my family twice. Twice!

"I-I just want to forget," I said aloud, "I want to forget Dylan."

"I don't blame you." Blaze sighed, "He was always looking at you with puppy dog eyes but the one time something bad happens, he runs."

"He sucks," Shimmer said. In those two words, she summed up everything she must be feeling.

"I can help you with that, if you really want to forget." Vivian said from behind the cracked open door.

"What?" I asked as I straightened up and rubbed my eyes. This girl comes over and sees me like this? I don't think so.

"That's what I can do," she laughs softly, "I can make you forget certain things. Just tell me, when did you meet Dylan?"

"A year ago," I said, "The Flock kicked me out a month ago."

"I could remodel your memories to make you believe that Dylan kicked you out with the rest of the Flock," Vivian blushed, "Would that make it better? I can erase the other's memories too."

"Thanks Viv," I said slowly, "But I'll have to pass. I'm not taking the easy way out. I'm going to live through this."

"Okay," she said in a disappointed tone, "Sorry I couldn't help."

Vivian was the reason Dylan went away, but I couldn't hold that against her. She was so sweet and ready to help. She was so lonely too. Dylan was the one who was missing out.

"I think I'm better now," I laughed sadly; "Dylan's an asshole now. There's no getting around that fact."

"If you can make a joke this early, you'll be fine," Shimmer said kindly, "Let's all go to sleep."

Blaze and Shimmer exited the room but Vivian hung back. She seemed to debate with herself on whether to say what she had to say or not.

"What is it?" I asked her curiously.

"Just…thank you. It's really cold on the roof sometimes. And I know that Dylan left because of me, but you chose me instead of him. Thank you." She blushed.

"Don't mention it Viv," I said tiredly, "I did what was right. Sometimes, that makes sad things happen, but that doesn't change the fact that it's right. You're a good person. You deserve a home."

"Goodnight Max," she said softly and exited the room, "And again, thank you."

"Goodnight Viv," I called back as she turned the hallway light off.

I had no nightmares that night. And I didn't for the next year. A year from that day was when all the shit hit the fan. 


	11. Iggy

"Rose!" I yelled at her room, "Get dressed!"

"I'm almost ready!" she called back.

It had been exactly a year since Dylan left. Contrary to his beliefs, Vivian hadn't turned out to be a spy. What a surprise. Rose had turned out to be a girly girl. Shimmer was the same; kind, sort of quiet, and at times- scary as hell. Blaze was still sort of blind, but she had developed Iggy's power except it was flipped. She could see black. It seems that while Iggy only saw black since he was blind, Blaze saw only white. Willow had stopped seeing the Flock as people she had to act her toughest around, so she had loosened up a lot. Me? I was still the same old Maximum Ride.

"Everyone else ready?" I shouted.

"Ready!" Vivian came out of her room wearing an off the shoulder purple top and jeans. She was pretty girly too when it came to her looks. She wasn't afraid of a hike every now and then, though.

"I'm ready too," Blaze said lazily down the hall, "And breakfast is ready."

At the word breakfast, Rose bounded out of her room and towards the mini kitchen. Shimmer also walked out of her room. She had a gold shirt that matched her eyes and black pants. She had grown her hair out so that it went to her waist.

"Nice outfit," I commented.

She flashed me a smile, "Not so bad yourself."

We had all decided that it wasn't so bad to wear nice clothes. Even I liked to dress up more than I did a year ago. I wear dressy shirts and skinny jeans now. The only things that you won't be able to get me into are heels and slutty dresses.

Right now, I was wearing a plaid pink and white long sleeved shirt from Hollister. It fit me nicely and gave me that warm look.

I rolled my eyes at her, "I just felt like dressy up in more than just a classic pink top today."

Have I mentioned that I liked wearing pink now? Bet you'd have never guessed. I sure wouldn't have.

We all ate our breakfast and walked to school. It was an uneventful walk and I just small talked with Shimmer. She was my second in command and best friend.

When we neared school, someone accidentally bumped into Blaze. He had on a light blue shirt and jeans, had strawberry blond hair, and blue eyes. He gazed sightlessly at Blaze and she laughed nervously. She shot me a look that showed that she knew who this was too.

"Looks like I'm not the only blind person at this school anymore," she fidgeted with her shirt. My eyes widened as I took in her blush. She wasn't fidgeting because she didn't know what to do, she had a crush on him!

"I'm Iggy," he shook her hand and she blushed harder.

"Blaze," she managed.

"Cool name," he smiled, "Sorry, but I have to go. See you later, Blaze."

Before I could stop myself, I groaned, "Bad joke Iggy."

His head whipped around to look at me, "Max?"

"You must have me confused with someone else," I said quickly, "I have to uh…go do something."

I sprinted away and I heard someone following me. I turned to look and saw that it was Shimmer. Of course. It was always her who came to comfort me. Not even Rose knew what to do when I'm sad or panicked.

"Is he Iggy from the Flock?" she asked me. She didn't need confirmation, but I said it anyway.

"Yes," I put my head between my knees as I sank down against the wall of the building, "Does this mean they're back?"

"You're ready," Shimmer said simply, "A year ago, you were too emotional to face them. You're ready now."

"No I'm not. I'll never be," I said desperately.

Rose ran up to me, "Is he the Iggy you told us about?"

"Yeah," I said quietly, "He was my blind pyro."

Rose was quiet for a second. Her usually happy atmosphere turned depressed.

"What if they want you back? What would you do?" Kids got right to the matter, didn't they?

"I will never leave you guys," I told Shimmer and Rose honestly. At that moment, Vivian and Willow ran up to us.

"Help!" Vivian squeaked.

"It's Blaze and Iggy! They're fighting!" Willow explained hurriedly. Immediately, I jumped into leader mode. I leaped to my feet and started backtracking my steps. What the hell was going on?

BLAZEPOV

I pushed Iggy to the ground and fell on top of him.

"You're assaulting me this early?" Iggy chuckled. I growled at him.

"Why did you kick her out?" I snapped at him. I never told anyone, but I wasn't just his clone. I was first made to be his clone, but the scientists thought that only a clone could be a perfect half. That's why I'm a girl.

And my perfect half broke my sister's heart. He was going to pay. A tear fell down my cheek.

"Answer me dammit!" I sobbed at him. The tears undid him. A girl that he didn't know was crying and he needed to stop it.

"We wanted a normal life! We don't want that anymore!" he answered me, "We want Max!"

"You're taking her from us?" I said in shock. The old Flock were coming to take her?

"She's ours!" he exclaimed. I pulled my fist out to punch him in the face, but before I could he flipped me over. He was on top now.

He held my arms down, "Who are you?"

"I told you!" I shouted, "Blaze!"

We had carried on our fight into a nearby forest so no one heard my scream. It had also started raining. Joy.

"Why do I feel that I know you?" he squeezed my arms. My perfect half was hurting me.

"GET OFF!" I screamed and used my Telekinesis and lifted him off me. Red clouded my vision. I pressed him up against a tree. He tried to struggle, but I held him with my power.

"You want to know why I'm so familiar?" I made my voice deathly quiet so that he had to strain himself to hear me, "It's because I'm your clone and perfect half. I wish that I wasn't either right now. Because you hurt Max and think that you can just take her back. You're scum. You're a traitor."

I got close to him and got ready to punch him. While pulling my hand back in a second attempt to punch him, he did something unexpected.

He kissed me.

His lips were soft and unlike what he would have done with other girls, he didn't shove his tongue down my throat. It was nice.

Nonetheless, I punched him in the face. He cried out in pain.

"What was fuck was that for?" he cussed, "We were having a fucking moment!"

"That's for being a jerk," I cried. My strawberry blond hair was weighed down by the wind and I sank to the ground. I heard a crashing to my right and felt a person holding me.

"Blaze?" Max's voice seemed far away, "Blaze, are you okay?"

I noticed Rose inspecting Iggy's bloodied face.

"Should I heal him?" she asked us.

"No," Shimmer replied. She made the decision because Max was caring for me.

"Blaze," Max forced me to look at her, "What happened?"

"It really hurts," I croaked.

"What does?" she furrowed her eyebrows, "Oh no…he didn't rape you, did he? If he did-"

"He didn't rape me," I said quietly, "This hurts more. It hurts to hate him. I've been programmed to love him unconditionally. My wiring's all fucked up."

"You've been programmed to love him unconditionally?" Willow asked me. I nodded.

"You're his perfect half," Max said quietly, "Damn. I didn't see that coming."

I expected her to be mad. She did the last thing I expected her to do. She did something even more surprising than Iggy kissing me.

She laughed, "Well, that makes things a bit more complicated. I can't very well hate someone you love, now can I? I always put family before myself, so I guess I just have to forgive him."

"You don't have to do that for me." I said quickly. Max never forgives. Ever. For her to do it just because I like Iggy…

"Yeah," she smiled sadly, "I kind of do. You're family and I'll do anything for you. Even if that means forgiving a traitor."

She frowned, "Well, I can't forgive him fully. I can just ignore him, right?"

"Okay." I breathed. What the hell was happening?

"Rose, heal him," Max waved her hand. She lost her balance and kind of fell against me.

I groaned as I realized what was happening. I think she was in shock. Iggy's return must have triggered some sort of mental imbalance, or something. I definitely did not pay attention in science when we talked about this stuff. Blaze did not want to be something even remotely related to scientists. I did not want to be a doctor.

"Rose, Max is pretty sick right now," I said cautiously. I noticed Iggy watching me.

"How do you know?" he asked me.

"None of your business Dick." I growled.

I looked at Shimmer and she nodded.

"Guys, we're staying home today. We'll discuss what we'll do once Max wakes up." She said. I kept Iggy stuck to the tree and walked with the rest back home.

Shimmer took my hand, "It'll be okay Blaze. Everything will."

Yeah Right. 


	12. Max's Betrayal

Here you go guys! Was it a bit unbelievable that Max forgave Iggy just like that? Well here's a chapter on what she really thought. I wasn't going to do this, but here it is! Surprise in it.

Without Further Adieu,

MAXPOV

My flock and I ran back to where I had run away. Blaze and Iggy weren't there.

Damn and it was starting to rain too.

I heard a scream come from the forest to my left. I gave a panicked look to the others before crashing through the undergrowth that edged the forest. A thorn tore at my leg, but I didn't even curse. I heard another scream and put on more speed.

I ran until I was near the source of the screams. I stopped so that I wouldn't blow my cover. If Iggy had gotten more powerful, I'd want to have the drop on him.

I peeked from around a large tree and saw something that made my breath stop.

Blaze and Iggy were against a tree...kissing. They parted and Blaze started screaming.

Oh god, was he raping her? I wouldn't put it past Iggy, and by the volume she was screaming...

Blaze pushed him away and used her telekinesis to bash him against a tree.

Tears were running down her Face. Te way that she looked at him even as she bashed him, it was caring. It hurt her to do this.

Dylan was the same way with me. I could see the pain in his eyes when he walked away, though it was masked.

And with that connection that would mean that Blaze is...

Oh god. And she'd never be happy with us because I hate Iggy.

She'd never be happy. I couldn't be the cause of that.

But if she was his perfect half, then why would she push him away? She shouldn't be able to.

Then Iggy must have...

It felt like my brain was short circuiting. Three thoughts were popping into my head.

One, Blaze was Iggy's perfect half as well as clone.

Two, she will never be happy as long as we are all together. Prejudice won't die that easily.

Three, Iggy was probably forcing himself on Blaze.

Nuh uh. Not on my watch. Before I could do anything though, Blaze sunk to the ground.

"Blaze?" I grabbed Blaze's shoulders, "Blaze, are you okay?"

Rose asked me, "Should I heal him?"

She was talking about Iggy. The guy who just tried to molest my baby girl. Who I had to leave soon. To let her stay with him. It's confusing.

"No," Shimmer said for me. I was grateful for her.

"Blaze," I forced her to look at her, "What happened?"

"It really hurts," Blaze mumbled.

"What does?" I voiced my guess, "Oh no…he didn't rape you, did he? If he did-"

"He didn't rape me," Blaze said quietly. Thank god. "This hurts more. It hurts to hate him. I've been programmed to love him unconditionally. My wiring's all fucked up."

"You've been programmed to love him unconditionally?" Willow asked Blaze. I guess she hadn't been brought up to date on the whole perfect half concept.

"You're his perfect half," I smiled sadly, "Damn. I didn't see that coming."

Well, I totally did but she didn't need to know that. There was probably a reason why she hid it.

I had to convincingly lie. I had to. "Well, that makes things a bit more complicated. I can't very well hate someone you love, now can I? I always put family before myself, so I guess I just have to forgive him."

"You don't have to do that for me." Blaze said. Her eyes were clouded with worry.

"Yeah," I lied and smiled sadly, "I kind of do. You're family and I'll do anything for you. Even if that means forgiving a traitor."

Oh please forgive me Blaze. Forgive me for lying to you now. Forgive me for leaving you soon. You'll get to stay here with the hotel room. You'll get to stay with Iggy.

If we stayed, Blaze would always be torn. She would know that I could never forgive him fully or even at all. She would try to side with me but her body would try to walk back to Iggy.

The hardest decisions always go to the leader.


	13. Family Split

**Ugh. Do you know how hard it is to deny my readers something? This may be the first time I've done it. Blaze and Willow have to split.**

**Without Further Adieu,**

WILLOWPOV

Blaze was exhausted so we all just stayed home for the day. Blaze went straight to bed and soon we could hear her soft snore.

I went to go play on my WII, but Max stopped me.

"Family meeting," she said. Her voice sounded defeated and she sat on the kitchen counter. Her head was bowed.

"What is it?" Rose asked. She was really concerned for Max. I always thought that they weren't really interested in each other. Even though they were sisters, they were so different. But Rose was acting really compassionate right now.

"It's just really hard being leader sometimes," she said softly, "Sometimes the good decisions are really hard to make."

"What is it?" Shimmer repeated Rose's words and put a hand on Max's shoulder.

"We have to leave," she said suddenly.

"But didn't you say that you could forgive the Flock for Blaze?" Vivian asked in a confused tone. Stupid. Sometimes it felt like I was the only one who saw through Max's lies.

"I lied," Max gave a sad chuckle, "And that's not the worst of it. We have to leave Blaze too."

I froze. What the? In the year we had been a family, Blaze had become my best friend. It used to be Rose, but she's just too girly. She's on the computer all the time now, or on her phone!

"I mean, she'll feel that I can't forgive them. Then what? Then she's torn between her family and her soul mate. I can't be the cause of that." Max took a deep breath. Her movements were shaky but I couldn't pity her right now. I was furious.

"Then _you_ leave!" the words were out of my mouth before I could stop them, "I have no qualms with the Flock!"

Max blinked, "I was getting to that. Blaze…will need a friend. She'll need people to stay. And I hate to have you choose, but that's what's going to have to happen. You need to choose between me and her."

"I've already made my point clear," I crossed my arms and glared at her. She was kicked out of her family, shouldn't she realize that she's doing the exact same thing now?

"I'm going with Max, of course." Vivian said and went to stand beside Max.

Surprisingly, Rose chose us.

"I know Willow likes Blaze more, but she's my best friend. And I have a life here. A real life. Please forgive me, Max." Rose said quietly.

"It's okay Rosie," she said gently, "I respect your decision."

"I'm going with Max," Shimmer said solidly, "I have the strongest bond with her. She's my best friend."

"Thanks Shimmer," Max smiled faintly, "I guess we should go pack."

I stared at her, "I guess you should."

Max, Shimmer, and Vivian disappeared to go pack.

I sat on the couch and Rose sat beside me. I felt her hug me.

"It's okay Willow," she said comfortingly, "Everything always turns out fine."

"It never turns out fine," I turned away from her, "Ever."


	14. Staying

Um. Here. I guess.

Without Further Adieu,

MAXPOV

I silently packed my clothes into a knapsack beside Shimmer. Her movements weren't hindered by any strong emotion. She never did get too emotional. She was always in control.

"Do you think I'm doing the right thing?" I asked her worriedly. I honestly didn't know right now. I just…

She began her answer with a question, "Do you think you're being selfless?"

"I think so," I said uncertainly, "I just keep picturing how Blaze is going to feel and…"

"Just do what you think is right," she said simply, "I'll go help Vivian pack. You need to thoroughly think about this."

She exited the door and closed it, leaving me in solitude. I softly rested my head against the wall and did as Shimmer told me too.

When Blaze woke up with half the family gone, she'd feel betrayed. She'd think that she wasn't good enough for them.

Why were we doing this? It was for Blaze, right? She would be torn because I would never be tough enough to face the Flock-

What? I was tough enough to face the flock! I just wouldn't be able to forgive them! It's not that I couldn't see them; it was that I chose not to!

Even while I thought that, I knew. I knew that I wasn't being selfless, I was being selfish. I was abandoning my Flock because I was scared.

I have a right to be scared! One side of my head said to the other; They abandoned us!

Like we were going to do to Blaze? The other challenged.

Shimmer came back into the room, "Are you ready to go?"

"Do you remember the first day we spent in this hotel room?" I asked suddenly, "We saw the Flock. I wanted to charge out there and fight them. You held me back."

"You weren't ready," Shimmer said simply. Her golden eyes seemed to swim with wisdom.

"I-I think I am now," I took a deep breath, "We're not leaving."

She gave me a small smile, "You came to the right decision. You just had to figure it out on your own."

"I had a little help," I said meekly and threw all of my stuff back into my drawers. Shimmer did the same. That little ball of tension in my got dissipated as I did so.

We stepped out into the hall and came face to face with Willow who had her arms crossed.

"Where's your stuff?" she snapped.

"In our drawers," Shimmer replied.

"Where is belongs," I added.

Vivian was coming out of her room, "So we're staying, then?"

I nodded, "I'm not going to let my fears get a hold of me."

"Good," she smiled. Her face showed relief.

"You're staying?" Willow's expression held a mix of so many different emotions that they were unrecognizable.

When I nodded again, she launched herself at me. I didn't have time to prepare myself, but that was okay because she didn't attack me.

"Sometimes I just hate you Max," she said with her hands wrapped around me in a bear hug, "Sometimes you're just damn stupid."

I had put this little girl through so much stress. By leaving Blaze and my problems, I was leaving her too. I had never thought of it that way.

"Love you too, kiddo," I ruffed up her hair.

Of course with my luck, the unthinkable happened. No, it was nothing to do with the Flock. It was something worse.

Blaze bumbled out of her room, "Why is everyone up?" 


	15. See you later, maybe

JUST KIDDING! C'mon guys, I thought you knew me well enough to know that I DO NOT leave a story hanging!

Without Further Adieu,

MAXPOV

Should we tell her? Should we try to hide it? Oh god, what do we do?

I decided to go with honesty, "Shimmer, Viv, and I were going to leave. I was too scared of the Flock."

"You were going to leave?" she demanded.

"Yeah," I looked at the ground, "But I realized that I wasn't able to leave you guys."

She banged her head against the door frame, "And that's supposed to make me feel better? Now I can't even trust you to not LEAVE ME WHILE I SLEEP! I-I just need some time alone."

Before we could stop her or convince her to stay, she opened a window and put her legs out.

"See you later," She muttered, "Maybe."

Blaze dropped out of the apartment and opened her wings only after she started falling. Reckless teenager.

"Should we go after her?" Willow asked me.

"She needs some time alone, but it's dangerous at night. I don't really want to leave you guys alone right now. Shimmer, will you tail her?" I requested.

"Sure thing Boss," she saluted me and drew out her black wings. With her black jeans and dark gray T-shirt, she'd blend in with the night. She jumped out the window.

Oh god. I hope Blaze will be alright. 


	16. Dark Alley

Bobo, okay! I was actually going to have her get a little lost.

IF ANY OF YOU HAVE AN IDEA/WANT SOMETHING FOR THIS STORY, JUST PM OR REVIEW ME! I'LL DO IT!

In the first version of this chapter, I had a guy try to rape Blaze. Shimmer saved the day! And then killed him. Very graphically. I made that less graphic. Very less graphic.

Without Further Adieu,

BLAZEPOV

What the hell? They were going to leave me? Did they think that I wasn't strong enough to survive without my 'soul mate'? I lived without him for this long, I think I could live without him forever! They didn't ask my opinion on it, they were just going to leave. I wouldn't even have known until it was too late.

I flew until I grew tired. I didn't have much stamina at this time in the morning, so I only went a few miles out. I saw a small speck of black flying a bit away from me. It didn't approach me and I didn't approach me. Stupid raven or crow or whatever.

When I landed, I took out my new phone. It had all the contacts that Max thought I might need along with some she didn't need to know about. I needed someone to talk to, to process what happened.

Willow? We're close, but wasn't she going to leave me too? So that eliminates anyone in my Flock. I don't know who was going to leave or not.

Fang? I had this hacker dude give me his number. He was schizophrenic and kept asking me who I was working for.

I looked at a number that I had never used before. He had texted me it. God knows how he got my number. We never spoke his name around Max. She acted like she was over it, but she obviously wasn't.

I took a deep breath and pressed send next to the contact. It rang a few times before he picked up.

"Hello Dylan," I greeted heavily. Dylan. Dylan Dylan Dylan Dylan. I hadn't spoken my big brother's name in so long. He wasn't technically my big brother, but you know how it is. I always pretended to like him so no one would ever know about Iggy. He was such a good actor. He always gave off just the right amount of embarrassment and surprise when I basically dry humped his leg. We always had a good laugh about it later, though.

"What's wrong?" he asked me immediately.

"I could just be calling to say hi, you know." I defended myself, "Life could be good right now."

"Blaze, we're Perfect Halves. I gave you my number because nothing ever goes right for us," he replied dryly, "So tell me. What's wrong?"

"They found out about Iggy," I confessed. He was the first person I told about Iggy and the whole Perfect Half thing.

"And?" he asked. His voice was full of curiosity for the Flock.

"And during the night, I walked in on them debating on whether to leave the Flock while I slept." I said quickly. I rushed to get through it. I didn't want to really think about it.

"That's…harsh." He struggled for a word, "Did they end up staying?"

"Yeah but it's the fact that they had to think about it. And they weren't even going to say anything! I would just wake up and find half the family gone!"

"Half?" he questioned.

"Yeah, half were supposed to stay and half were going. I didn't stick around long enough to find out any more." I said furiously.

"Wait, you're not with them now?" he asked worriedly, "You live in New York. And it's night. And you're alone."

"I can take care of myself, but you're right!" I exclaimed, "They just let me go and didn't care! I could have been raped for all they know!"

"Were you?" he sounded amused.

"Well no, but…" I trailed off. Damn, Dylan was good at this.

"But you're right about the 'you might be raped' thing. I don't care if you can kind of see, it's still dangerous. Where are you?"

"I-I don't know," I said nervously, "I haven't really been paying attention. I'm kind of lost."

"I'll find you." He said and disconnected the call. He's coming? It's been a year since I saw him.

Yeah, actually saw him. Since I see black, I see the outlines of things. The world is like a sketchbook to me. Colorless, but there.

The surroundings around me were bleak to say the least. Dark alleyway. Not good. No road visible. Doubly not good. Seedy looking man coming towards me. Oh hell.

I froze. The man kept coming. I couldn't see him very well since everything was cast into shadows. One of the shadows leaped out and punched the man in the face. A passing beam of moonlight showed that the shadow had long black hair and golden eyes.

"Shimmer!" I gasped.

"It's going to be okay Blaze," she said calmly and punched the man again. Her punches were numerous and believe me-she doesn't pull her punches. When he was bruised and bloodied, she threw him onto the ground and walked towards me.

"You okay?" she asked me in a concerned voice.

When I nodded, she said, "Let's go home."

"You were going to leave me," my voice cracked.

"I was going to follow Max," she said simply. They were together so much that they acted more like sisters than Max and Rose, "Now let's go."

I shook my head, "I-I'm meeting someone."

"Who?" she asked me.

I shook my head again, "I can't say. I'll be back soon though. I just need…distance for a few days."

I heard a motorcycle roar and then Dylan came driving down the alley. He had his helmet on, so Shimmer didn't recognize him.

"That's my ride," I said and hopped on the bike, "I'll be back soon."

I hung onto my big brother and we went speeding off onto the street, leaving Shimmer's shocked face behind.

"You okay?" Dylan asked me.

I shook my head, "No. Not at all." 


	17. Too Close

**I kind of liked Mayonaka Girl's idea, so here goes. I'll try it out!**

**Without Further Adieu,**

DYLANPOV

Blaze really wasn't doing so well. She was irritated, frustrated, and depressed all rolled into one. She was just like me when I split off from Max.

Blaze and I weren't really siblings, but it felt like it. We were two of a kind and we knew we could lean on each other. Blaze knew that I had never really gone too far from Max, but she never told on me.

"Where are we going?" Blaze asked me blankly.

"Where do you want to go?" I asked her in reply.

"Somewhere fun," she decided, "Somewhere that I can just forget what happened for a few hours. And somewhere we can go in the middle of the night since it's about two AM."

I smiled. I knew just where to go. I went there a lot when I first left Max. You can go there any time, and it's a perfect escape.

The casino.

I drove my motorcycle there and parked in the back. I was friends with the staff, so they really didn't care if I parked there.

I waited until Blaze got off before jumping off my bike. She shook her hair out of the helmet I had given her. She had gotten taller and had –ehem- blossomed. The dudes would be bothering her all night.

"Blaze, if any guy comes up to you, say you're my girlfriend." I advised her.

"Why?" she asked me curiously.

"Because there are really sleazy dudes here and I've got street cred around here," I told her seriously.

"Street credit?" she laughed, "You've changed a lot Dylan since I've last saw you."

"So have you," I rolled my eyes.

"Okay then _boyfriend_." She rolled her eyes in the absurdity of the word, "Let's go."

We went in and I promptly lost sight of her. She ran off when I was taking in the sights. The colors and noise never gets old.

To me at least. I'm pretty sure Blaze never even saw it for a second. I headed off into the direction I think she went.

I walked up to one of my cocktail server friends, "Hey Stacy, have you seen my girlfriend around?"

She had a crush on me, so this was a win win situation. She stops her infatuation with me and I find out where Blaze is.

"What does she look like?" Stacy said jealously. She flipped her red hair over her shoulder. Unlike some bastards, I just wasn't into red heads.

"She has strawberry blond hair and is pretty tall." I told her, "And she's slightly blind."

"Oh," she said maliciously, "So you like broken girls. She's over there."

She waved her hand vaguely to my left.

Before I went after Blaze, I hissed at Stacy, "She's not broken. But you will be if you say that again."

Stacy froze and I ran over to me left. What was over here? Just some slots and… Oh screw it. Please no. The bar was over there and it was serve yourself. The casino was doing so well that most of the drinks were free.

I ran over to the bar and saw a very drunk Blaze and a thirty year old perv. He had his hand on her thigh and she was drunkenly trying to stop him.

"Jared," I hissed at him, "Get your hands off her, now."

"Brother! I mean uh, boy friend! No, that's not right. Dylan!" Blaze threw up her hands and jumped off her bar stool. She staggered over to me, "This creep was trying to perv on me! How many times is this going to happen to me today?"

I steadied Blaze and had her lean against the wall to steady herself. I faced Jared with murderous intent clear in my eyes.

"We were just having fun," he held up his hands.

I confidently walked up to him and gripped his collar in one hand. I lifted him off the ground and punched him in the face. I kept beating him up until he was crying and someone pulled me off of him.

"He's a creep, but he's had enough." A bouncer told me, "To stick to code, I have to throw you out now Dylan."

"Fair enough," I nodded, "I have to bring Blaze home anyway."

I picked Blaze up bridal style and she snuggled against my chest like only little sisters can.

I couldn't bring her anywhere on my bike. She'd just fall off. I really didn't like the idea of explaining why I was bringing a drunk girl into my apartment to my elderly neighbor. Tonight wasn't supposed to be this way! We were supposed to blow some money and then she'd crash at my place for a night. Then she'd go back home. End of story.

Now I had to do something that no one (but me, possibly) was going to like.

I pulled out Blaze's phone and called Max.

_"Blaze! Where are you?"_

"Hi Max."

_"Who's this?"_

"Uh, it's me. Dylan."

_"Oh god."_

"We can settle this later. Right now, I have no idea what to do and I need you help."

_"What is it?"_

"We went to the casino and Blaze got really drunk and I beat up a guy that was putting the moves on her and now we're kicked out and I don't know what to do."

_"Blaze is __drunk__?"_

"Uh…yeah."

_"Where are you?"_

"We're at 101 Fake Lane."

_"That's pretty close. I know where it is. I'll be there in a second and then I'll beat you up."_

"Thanks Max,"

_"Don't say my name."_

With that, she hung up on me. I kept holding Blaze until I heard the squeal of tires. Max pulled up to me in a red jeep. She jumped out.

"Where's Blaze?" she demanded as soon as she was out.

"Right here," I held out Blaze and Max took her.

"How close did the sleaze get to her?" she closed her eyes in preparation for the answer.

"A hand on her knee. I beat him up before he could do anymore." I answered.

"Too close," she whispered as she headed back to her jeep. She laid Blaze sideways on her backseat and strapped her in.

I started to walk away and I heard footsteps pounding behind me.

"What the fuck Dylan?" she snapped, "I said I was going to beat you up and I wasn't lying! Get in the fucking car!"

I froze. Max could deliver quite the punishment to people she really doesn't like. I guess I might deserve it, though.

I got in the car.


	18. Shimmer's Hurt

Jubb, IT'S NOT DAX IT'S MYLAN! I've met TWO people THIS WEEK who have made that mistake. You never see Fax mistaken as Mang so why mistake Mylan for Dax?

Without Further Adieu,

MAXPOV

I couldn't believe him! Dylan left without so much as a backwards glance and leaves me in tears. I miss him (though I hide it well) for a whole year and then suddenly he flounces back with a drunk Blaze in his arms!

Was that what was bothering me? That Dylan liked her? Well too bad for him 'cause Blaze positively loves Iggy. If her family didn't know that until yesterday, then he sure as hell didn't.

"Don't waste your time," I spat at him as I drove, "She's someone Else's Perfect Half. Though of course, that concept does seem to be a bit crooked."

The jealousy leaked into my voice and he laughed. He laughed. Didn't he know never to laugh in my face?

"Max, I don't like her, I'm your Perfect Half," he said with kindness in his eyes. I didn't trust his kindness anymore.

"Fine use a Perfect Half is!" I retorted, "You were supposed to be my best friend, my playmate, my flying companion! You were supposed to pick me up when I fell down! You were the person that I'd tell the things I'd never dare tell anyone else in fear of looking stupid! But you HAVEN'T BEEN THERE!"

"Max, I'm so sorry!" he apologized emotionally, "I didn't know what was going through me head-"

"Save it," I cut him off, "I don't want to hear any more from you. I'd throw you out of the car, but the others might want to see you."

Right now, I wanted to open his door and shove him out it while I drove at a hundred miles per hour, but that's not how it works. Not when you're leader. When you're leader, you have to bring the issue to the whole and let everyone decide on it.

"Make yourself useful and check on Blaze," I ordered. Dylan leaned into the backseat and made sure that she was still on laying on her side.

We're in high school and Blaze likes to party. She also gets drunk. She'd be at the bottom of the School food chain but with the way everyone at our school is, she's at the top. Yep, we're at a bitches and slut school. The first person to get drunk wins! Blaze isn't a slut though, she just likes the rush that comes with alcohol. Or so she says. The only time I had a drink, I just ended up with a headache and a bad taste in my mouth.

But the point is, I'm pretty use to taking care of Blaze while she's under the influence. Lay her on her side so that when she pukes, she doesn't drown in it. That's basically the only thing I have to know except to not let her out of my sight. Us mutants don't die of anything drink or drug related because of something the scientists put in our veins.

"How do you know what to do?" Dylan asked me.

"You don't have to know." I said simply, "Since you're not staying long."

"Max," his tone was serious, "When I left you, something was wrong with me. I don't know what happened. First, I was just happy because you were happy but then I just got really mad and paranoid for some reason."

"Just be quiet," I shook my head in sadness, "I really don't want to hear it anymore."

Just then my phone rang. Keeping my eyes on the road, I took out my phone and held it between my head and shoulder.

"What's up?" I said casually.

Rose's voice was panicked, "Oh my god Max! Shimmer didn't come home right away so Willow, Viv, and I went to look for her and when we found her-"

She cut herself of with choked sobs. Someone else took the phone.

It was Viv, "Max, we found Shimmer and… something or someone had attacked her. It looked like she had run away from whatever had attacked her and she was covered in her own blood. Rose is doing all she can, but it's not enough. We're losing her. She's in the apartment now. Just come here fast."

"On my way," I said quickly and hung up. I tossed the phone to Dylan.

"Don't lose it," I barked.

I ordered him, "Take Blaze up. I need to go see the damage myself."

Without waiting for his reply, I got out of the car and pulled out my wings. I flew straight up and dove through the window that we always keep open when some one's out on a fly.

I saw an unconscious Shimmer on our couch. Everyone was crowding her.

"Give her some space." I ordered. I needed something to keep Willow and Viv busy.

"Willow and Viv, go downstairs and help Dylan carry Blaze up. She's drunk." I ordered.

"Dylan?" Willow asked me in surprise. Viv didn't know who we were talking about since she had only briefly met him once.

"Just go," I ordered and went up to Rose.

"I need something to help stop the blood," she told me.

I ran over to the bathroom and got as many towels and washcloths as I could carry. I dumped them beside Rose.

"I slowed the blood as much as I could, but it's not possible to effectively stop it with her clothes on. They're stuck to her skin. You're the only one I trust not to accidentally cut her."

I got out my special pocket knife and started to cut Shimmer's black top away from her skin. I did it quickly but methodically and soon I had removed her entire shirt. There was a large gash in her stomach.

"Shit," I cursed, "What could have done this?"

Shimmer's eyes fluttered briefly and she answered me in a pained whisper, "Her name…is Indigo."

"Willow called 911," Rose informed me as she placed her hands over Shimmer's stomach, "They'll be here any second."

Just then, a couple paramedics entered the room.

"What did this?" one asked.

"No idea." I answered truthfully.

The other was looking at Rose was hand deep in blood, "Miss, please back away and let us do our job."

He moved to push Rose away, but I stopped him, "Shimmer's losing too much blood. Rose can stop that."

I forced the paramedics to stand by until Rose had slowed the bleeding considerably. I did allow one to help with the smaller injuries, though.

The rest of the Flock came inside and stared in mute horror at the scene before them.

When Rose moved away, the paramedics placed Shimmer on a stretched and ushered her downstairs to their ambulance. I spread my wings and the rest followed.

"To the hospital?" I asked them unnecessarily.

"To the hospital," the rest agreed. 


	19. She's Coming

A friend suggested a new series to me and now I'm hooked! Vampire Knight! Wooh!

Without Further Adieu,

MAXPOV

I thought for a second, "Actually, Viv I'm going to need you to stay here to look after Blaze. It is not a good idea to carry her while flying."

"But-" she bit her lip, looking embarrassed that she thought of defying me, "Okay Max."

Vivian picked up Blaze from where Dylan had placed her on a nearby chair. I'm pretty sure I saw barf on the chair. When Blaze wakes up, she's cleaning it up.

But meanwhile Shimmer was near death. I could pushed the punishment from my mind right now. I just needed to focus on Shimmer right now.

"C'mon guys," I signaled the rest of my Flock and we jumped out the window. We flew really high in the sky so that no one saw anything that remotely looked like bird kids. But of course with our raptor vision, we easily tracked the ambulance to the Hospital. I smiled when I saw that it was the nearest hospital to us, though that would make sense. I had connections there. Reliable connections that knew about our wings.

I folded in my wings and dropped into a tree with huge branches. I grabbed onto one limb and did a flip over it. That got rid of some of my momentum and was incredibly fun. We found out that little trick when Rose had accidentally gotten shot during hunting season. That also led to me having my reliable connections.

The rest landed in a way similar to mine and we dropped to the actual ground. Willow stumbled and skinned her knee on the gravel.

"I'm okay," she waved us off, "Max, you have to make sure that Dr. Greene is the one that works on Shimmer."

Her advice was unneeded, but I didn't bother telling her so. I ran into the emergency room and almost ended up tripping on the receptionist. The rest stayed at the doorway. The receptionist wasn't anyone I knew so our conversation took way longer than necessary.

"This area is for patients and doctors only," she told me sharply. Her red hair bounded unhappily around her shoulders. That should have been a sign that things wouldn't work out well.

"In approximately three and a half minutes, my sister is going to be wheeled in here with several paramedics. Dr. Greene is the only one capable of helping her," I told her quickly.

"Excuse me Miss, but all of our Doctors are perfectly capable of helping our patients." She snapped, "And Dr. Greene is currently in surgery."

"Well tell him that this patient is family of Maximum, he'll come," I snarled, "Get that through your empty little head!"

"Well I never!" she huffed but did what I commanded. She spoke on a mini walkie talkie that was connected to her desk.

"Dr. Greene, please report to the ER. A Maximum needs to speak with you," her nasally sounding voice echoed around me. Oh, intercom system. That makes sense.

Immediately, and to air brain's dismay, Dr. Greene came barreling down the hallway. He smelled like antiseptics, but I didn't worry. I knew that Dr. Greene was okay. He way in fact Nudge's father. He knew I knew information about his stolen daughter, and he was nice in case I someday decided to share what I knew.

"Dr. Collins took my place," he said to air-brain, "She's pleased."

He turned to me, "What's wrong Maximum?"

"It's Shimmer. She was attacked by something. It's bad," my voice cracked. Right then, Shimmer was wheeled in.

"It'll be okay, I'll take care of her," he assured me and ran up to Shimmer's unconscious body.

"Call in Dr. Brandy, Dr. Johnson, Dr. Sendium, and Dr. Alvarez." He instructed air brain and she without a fight did what he asked.

He wheeled Shimmer away into a different part of the hospital and the others came up to me. Rose tugged on my sleeve.

"What now?" she asked softly.

"Now," I said simply, "We find out what happened to Shimmer. You know where you found her, right?"

Willow nodded, "Yeah."

I gave Dylan a disinterested glance, "You stay here and call me if anything goes wrong."

I had Willow give Dylan her phone and we walked out of the Hospital. I saw the receptionist eyeing him like a piece of candy. I felt a stab of pain pierce my heart but I pushed it away. He left and I've learned my mistake. If the love of my life leaves, then I don't let him back in my heart.

"What is he doing back?" Rose asked me.

I shook my head, "I don't care anymore."

We then flew off into the night with Willow in the lead. She led us to a few miles away from our house. We landed in a dark alley with visible signs of a fight.

"This is where we first found her trail," Rose informed me. I nodded.

"Look for anything out of the ordinary," I instructed and we started investigating. I wasn't stupid. I didn't let them out of my sight. If there's anything dangerous out here, I'm not leaving them alone.

I was looking at a particularly large pool of blood when I found it. It was a note on crisp, expensive paper. The corner was soaked in blood but it was easy to read the manuscript.

'Dear escaped prey,

Your Shimmer was quite the challenge, I must say. I managed to wound her and then she turned her power on me. Quite the magnificent influence, I must say. She managed to daze me for enough time for her to get away. She even convinced me to stop looking for her! Very clever, I admit. So here's a message for you. It's only a second best way of communicating; her dead body would have been a much better form. But anyway, I must tell you the reason that I've crossed paths with you at all. You see, we've found you. You've been under our radar for so long, it was very intelligent of you to hide yourselves so close to us. Don't worry, we don't want all of you. Blaze and Maximum. If you do not turn yourselves in, then my team and I will be forced to treat you as I did Shimmer, except this time I shall not fail.

Love,

Indigo Winters'

Her letter was so formal, though it's a death threat. No, not even a threat, it is a promise. She was so level headed that it surprised me.

"She's coming," I whispered in horror, "She's coming for all of us."

(I need two more mutants for her team! All girls!) 


	20. The Hunters

I'm grounded for two weeks but I'll try to sneak chapters up. Updates will most definitely be slower.

Without Further Adieu,

I stared into the forest that was slowly awakening in the early morning light. My teammates Nox and Razina were lightly sleeping in the thick oak branches under me. I again noticed how much they look alike. They both have very black hair. Nox's was fuller and wavy. Razina's was thin and swirled around her head. Her small fox ears perched above her hair, useless as they were.

Razina was deaf. When she was three, she underwent a test that was supposed to enhance her hearing capabilities but rendered her exactly the opposite. Like with that failure -Iggy- the test failed. She was slated for expiration but then her creators decided that she was powerful enough to bother with so I took her under my wing, literally. I taught her to fly, fight, read lips, and see the slightest change of shadow or movement. The last thing was one of her powers, but I helped her develop it. She gained a mutation that allowed her to sense if someone was near or talking to her, intuition perhaps? And she is intellectual. She didn't even need to learn sign language. That kind of surprised me. I thought that she was a total weakling.

Now she was a mini-me. She inherited my blood lust, which I didn't mind at all. It definitely helped when we were on a mission. We even had the same eyes. They were uncharacteristically large and a glowing green.

Nox was completely different. She wasn't very happy under my orders like Razina was. No, Nox challenged me for leadership several times, and I don't doubt that she will again. I've always won in our little bouts. She never thinks her moves through. If she did, she would probably win and I would probably be dead. Whenever Nox battles, her only good offense is her venom. She's infused with black mamba snake DNA and she inherited its most deadly aspect. She has fangs that unlike a vampire, she has out all of the time. These fangs are coated in venom that both paralyzed and brutally poisons her prey. She has strangely jewel-like gray eyes that were enhanced to the point that she can spot a moth in the sky from a hundred yards away. At night.

Her human form lures her prey in sometimes when we're out hunting. The mutant boys can't seem to resist her glowing eyes, tanned skin, wavy hair, and model like body. She doesn't mind the looks she gets from the boys either.

Sighing, I spotted a peregrine falcon soaring in the sky. Hm, it was the kind of bird that Maximum Ride had spawned off of. The hawk started circling and it prepared to dive. It had found its breakfast and I'd found mine.

I felt my body ripple and I shifted into one of my favorite form: a mountain lion. The power was incredible with this feline.

Razina and Nox woke up when they heard my quiet growl.

"Hunting time?" Nox smiled maliciously and bared her fangs.

I gave a nod, I can't talk when I've shifted. Razina had seen Nox ask the question so at my nod, she jumped down to the forest floor and went east. She'd use her predator blood to hunt as would we. Nox climbed down the tree quickly and sprinted west. She depended on her spew and venom to hunt. I felt my powerful muscles ripple again and instead of running on the ground, I jumped from tree branch to tree branch, following the falcon. It was one of my favorite birds to eat and I was freaking getting it. My large paws muted the sound of my advance. I saw the bird on the ground, devouring a small rabbit. It was like a last meal, in a way. I pounced on it and snapped its neck. It's struggles immediately stopped. I shifted back to my human form and picked up the falcon. I sure as hell wasn't going to eat this raw, only Nox does that. I did skin, gut, and drain it here, though.

I carried this back to our tree and stoked a fire. I sharpened a stick while the fire grew and stuck the bird on it. I was slowly roasting it when Razina came bounding back. In her hands was a large brown rabbit. Nox probably wouldn't she be back for awhile. She liked to eat separately from us. Her vampire bat DNA made her enjoy eating her food raw and soaked with blood. I feel that it's awfully uncivilized, so I refuse to watch. Nox got the point when Razina threw up when she spotted Nox choosing down once.

Razina effectively skinned her rabbit with her pocket knife and when she was finished, I handed her a sharpened stick. She stuck the rabbit on it and copied my position.

"How was your hunt?" Razina stared at my lips to see my answer.

"I caught a peregrine falcon. My favorite." I smiled at the thought of the first bite of this bird. Yum.

"The bird that Maximum Ride was fused with?" Razina laughed quietly, "It's like a sign,"

I nodded in agreement, "A sign for them. Too bad they'll never see it."

I peered out of the canopy of branches and saw Maximum's apartment. We chose this tree because of its clear view of their living arrangement. We've been observing them for two weeks and only yesterday did I make contact. Maximum's window was open and I could see that she was worriedly rereading my letter to her. She knew we were a threat and she had good reason to. I wonder what I'd do if she didn't give herself up. Hm, maybe I should target her boyfriend Dylan. No, I'll save him for last. Next, I'll go after the one that made my goal to eliminate Shimmer a failure. Or maybe it was Shimmer herself who ruined plan. I'm immune to mind control, but she seemed to find a loop hole around that. She did t control my mind, its like she made me think 'oh hey, itll be just as good a message to let Shimmer love, but just barely'. Its something that I might think, so I didn't think anything of it until I had flown away and had broken eye contact. She convinced me to go, which was strange. I could have easily flown back and killed her then, but I have a strange sense of pride. I'm proud that I'm not a hunter who takes the easy way out. I conceded defeat and vowed to let Shimmr return to her normal state, and the Id go after her again. I may have lost that battle, but I will most definitely win this war.

Nonetheless, I'll go after the younger one, Maximum's sister. And this time I will not fail. I will not allow her to heal herself before I deliver the final blow. She will be my second message to show that I mean business. With her body, maybe I'll leave instructions on how they should turn themselves in. I mean, there's one girl who I have no problem with. Willow. She's not important enough for me to go after, but not so weak that she's disgusting. The rest are a threat to Itex, so they must go.

"It's a sign that we're closer than they think," I smiled evilly in anticipation of my next kill. Something startled Max and she looked out her window, "We'll send our next 'message' with her sister's head. Tomorrow." 


	21. The Flock

**Hey, I made a forum! It's called ****Maximum Ride: OC Make and Take. ****It turns out that using OCs that were posted in reviews is illegal on fanfiction, so if you have an OC that you made or want me to use, please post one there! And I'm curious as to whether anons can review there or not. **

**Link:http:/www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/myforums/Metal_Flowers/3248618/**

* * *

I clutched my head as I stared at the blood-spattered note. My head felt like a brain attack was coming on, but I knew that it was just a migraine the size of Iggy's ego.

How was I supposed to deal with this? If this Indigo just wanted me, I would've gone without a second though. However, she wanted another one of my flock, and that just wasn't happening.

The house was empty except for Dylan and us. The others were all visiting Shimmer in the hospital. I think Rose had been helping her heal, so she'd be out in a couple of days or less. Thankfully, I hadn't been out of my room so I didn't have to face Dylan. Deciding not to keep Blaze in the dark any longer, I called her into my room.

She opened my door slowly and it squeaked, "Am I in trouble for running away?"

I sighed, "I wish."

I tossed her the note and she tripped over herself to catch it. She was having a hangover, I noticed.

"Are we handing ourselves over?" she asked calmly. I saw in her eyes that she was seriously considering it. She would hand herself over to protect the others.

My phone rang just then. I didn't have a personalized ringtone. It was just a shrill ring that made me jump every time I heard it.

The number was one I didn't recognize, but I answered it anyway, "Hello?"

A feminine voice that sounded similar to a cat's purr entered my ear, "Maximum, hello. This is Indigo."

I froze, "What do you want?"

Indigo chuckled, "Oh, I think you know what I want. I'm just going to tell you how to surrender yourselves."

"And why would I do that?" I replied sarcastically. I mouthed the word 'Indigo' to Blaze and her eyes widened. I discreetly put the phone on speaker so that Blaze could hear.

Indigo sounded smug, "You'll do what I want because I have something of yours. I believe that she's your sister."

"You have Rose?" I suddenly felt queasy.

"Oh yes," her voice was full of dark laughter, "So do you want to know how to surrender?"

Blaze plucked the phone from my grasp, "Yes."

"Oh hello, Blaze," Indigo greeted politely. Why the heck was she being polite?

"Tell us the place and time," Blaze practically growled into the phone.

"You're no fun at all! Anyway, go to the abandoned factory about a mile from where you live. It's made of bricks, a bunch of broken windows…you know the one?" she said condescendingly, "Be there at ten tonight. I'd like to wrap this up by midnight."

Indigo hung up on us and I grabbed the phone from Blaze.

"What the hell did you just do?" I snapped at her, "We'll get Rose back, but we're not surrendering."

"I know," Blaze said calmly, "But I have a plan. I need to run it your way first, of course. Just don't freak out, okay?"

I took a deep, frustrated breath, "What's your plan?"

Blaze smiled in pride that I wanted to listen to her idea, "So, there's safety in numbers right? If that is true, then we should band with the Flock! And plus, they're great fighters, right?"

My eye twitched, "What?"

Blaze deflated, "Max, I think that we need to do this. If we're not giving up, we need help."

"I don't disagree," I bit my cheek, "I just wish it didn't have to be done. Running away isn't going to help this time because Indigo will just follow us and attack. Just don't expect me to be all lovey dovey with them."

Blaze clapped her hands together, "Okay then! I'll go call the Flock to come here."

"I'm going to get Shimmer and Willow out of the hospital. We're not separating again." I said, "Make sure Dylan's always in your sights. Buddy system, you know. We don't need any more abductions or attacks." I instructed Blaze and jumped out of my window.

Suddenly paranoid, I scanned the ground below me. It was just a bunch of roads and a thickly wooded park to my right. Ew, did I see a dead bird carcass?

I flew as fast as I could to the Hospital and pulled in my wings. I quickly walked over to Shimmer's room, but when I got there I saw a young girl blocking my way.

The girl had wavy black hair, tanned skin, and grey eyes. She was wearing a leather jacket and skinny jeans.

"Indigo forgot to tell you in the phone call that she's going to kill Rose at 10:01 tonight, so don't be late." She snarled, "So don't worry. We aren't going to kill you. Yet."

Before I could process what she said, she jumped ran down the end of the hallway and jumped out a window. When I looked out it, I did not see her.

"Damn," I shook my head regretfully, "If I had acted faster…"

I pushed open the door to Shimmer's room and saw her sitting up with Willow crouched protectively beside her.

"I'm getting you out of here;" I told them seriously, "The Hunters kidnapped Rose."

BACK AT HOME:

When I came home with Shimmer in my arms and Willow flying beside me, the old Flock was already here. The old Flock tried to approach me, but I gestured for them to stay seated.  
"Why are we here?" Nudge asked curiously, "I mean, we haven't seen you guys in years so I'm a little curious."

I sat Shimmer down on the couch and she winced painfully as she settled. I sat beside her and Willow sat next to Blaze.

I gazed at the room, "I'm going to tell you something that only Blaze, Willow, Rose, and I know. Shimmer only knows part of what's going on and The Hunters kidnapped Rose. The Hunters want Blaze and I to hand ourselves over, or they'll kill anyone in their path. I won't let Blaze be sentenced to a life of being in a cage again."

"What are The Hunters?" Gazzy asked in confusion.

Shimmer answered, "They're exactly what they sound like. They hunt anything they want to and it appears that they have their sights set on Max and Blaze. The Hunters consist of three girls that all look vaguely alike. The leader is named Indigo. She likes to play with her prey. The second in command is Nox. Nox is dangerous, has anger issues, and is faintly crazy. The third member is a slight mystery. She is the only hunter with a visible flaw. Her name is Razina and she's deaf. You can identify her by a beanie that she always wears to cover her fox ears. Each one of them is bloodthirsty and wouldn't spare a second thought to killing anyone."

"You know a lot about the Hunters," Angel commented, "Why's that?"

"It's because, little Angel," Shimmer smiled grimly, "I used to be one."

Blaze jumped up from her seat beside Iggy and Willow, "What?"

Shimmer rolled her eyes, "Don't get your panties in a bunch. I tried it out until I realized that I had to kill people."

Blaze sat back down and I noticed Iggy take her hand, "I guess that's better."

Fang was staring at me all this time, "We'll help."

Nudge turned to look at him and saw him staring at me. Her face filled with jealousy.

"What?" she cried out, "We could die! Or get hurt! I think we should let them handle it. I mean, if they don't want anyone to get hurt they should hand themselves over. If we help, then we could end up getting hurt and-"

"Shut up Nudge," Fang said, still looking at me, "I'm not letting Max go again."

"Yes, you are." Dylan said, as if talking to a two year old, "You left her to be with me. Stick by that decision."

"You didn't exactly stay with me either, Dylan." I snapped, acid leaking into my voice. He was being a hypocrite.

"Max, I made a mistake." Fang let some of his remorse show, "I need to make it right."

Iggy said over our little mess, "Guys, just quit it. We all know Fang made a mistake. We didn't know that Dylan left you, but that doesn't have anything to do with anything right now. What we need to know is that our Flock, with the exclusion of Nudge, is going to help you through this."

"Thanks," Blaze whispered in Iggy's ear.

I nodded, "Iggy has the right idea. Now please, raise your hand if you do _not_ want to help me."

Nudge raised her hand, but no one else did. Even Angel, the girl who I thought hated me, chose to stick with me.

"Now that that's over, can we all apologize to Max now?" Gazzy asked, breaking the moment. Or maybe he was leading into a new one. I don't know.

"You sentenced me to work for the School for who knows how long," I glared at them, "You don't get to beg for my forgiveness as soon as we meet again. Maybe if we're all alive tomorrow, I'll consider trying to forgive you. Until then, nada."

Hey, don't blame me. If they risk their lives to save ours and it works, there would be a large chance of me forgiving them. Even I could see that. Because if that happened, then that would mean that they've changed. It would mean that they wouldn't hurt anything to save their own butts ever again.


	22. Hunting Plans

**Ha! My anons, as perceptive as ever! Since you noticed her disappearance, then I'll give you an explanation in this chapter. In fact, this chapter will BE the explanation! **

**Without Further Adieu,**

INDIGOPOV

"Let me go!' Maximum's sister, Rose, struggled against the ropes restraining her. I ignored her and put my attention towards the idiotic mutant in front of me.

"I brought her to you," Vivian said proudly, "So will you consider giving me a spot in the Hunters?"

Vivian had been planted in the school five years ago as a spy. It was pure luck that she got to interact with a group as important as the Flock. She had forgotten her purpose once she saw their 'kindness', but she had in the end betrayed them and brought Rose here.

"You did well," I said slowly, "The Hunters certainly appreciate your efforts."

"So will you consider it?" Vivian begged.

I barked out a laugh, "Come here, little Vivian."

She hopefully stepped up closer to me. Her purple clothes were neat and there wasn't a hair out of place.

"You shouldn't have betrayed them," I whispered in her ear, "Because if you hadn't…"

I grabbed her head and twisted. Her neck broke in an instant.

"Maybe if you had remained faithful, you could have lived." I laughed at the expression eternally frozen onto her face.

"What should we do with the body?" Nox hissed.

"Dump it in the gutter somewhere," I chuckled, "We don't bury traitors."

Razina picked up the broken body and carried it out the door.

"You killed her!" Rose cried out, "You killed Viv!"

"She betrayed you, idiot." I hissed, "She deserved to die. She was scum."

"I don't care!" she screamed, "She was my friend!"

"Oh shut up," I flipped her off, "No one wants to hear you talk anymore."

"I could silence her right now," Nox licked her lips but I grabbed her arm.

"Don't you dare," I snarled, "I said we wouldn't kill her yet and we won't. I'll let you have the honors of killing her later, but I keep my word."

Now we wait for the Flock, both of them, to show up. I knew that poor Maximum would band together with her old Flock to save her sister. It was all part of the plan.


	23. Death and Battle, forever intertwined

MAXPOV

Blaze and I walked into the cold, dark factory. There was no sign of life which slightly creeped me out. It was good because it meant that the Flocks were accurately hiding, but it meant that Indigo and the Hunters were as well.

Three dark shapes jumped out of the gloom, each with bloodlust in their eyes. The tallest of the trio had long black hair and glowing green eyes. The one that flanked her on her right had wavy black hair and Hispanic features. The smallest of them had fox ears and was coiled up, ready to pounce.

"Hello Maximum," Indigo smirked, "How nice of you to be so punctual. It's 9:59."

The clear second in command lunged forward, but Indigo lashed out with her hand to block her.

"Stop Nox," she snarled, "Maximum is mine."

Nox spat at her but froze in her tracks. Indigo smiled at her small victory,

"Should I go sniff out the ones in hiding?" the smallest asked Indigo. She must be Razina.

"Aren't you deaf?" Blaze asked bluntly. No one had made a true move yet, but Blaze was provoking her.

"How rude," her eyes flared with rage.

"Razina, no!" Indigo barked, "Maximum and Blaze are ours! You go attack one of the others!"

"Yes Indigo," she obeyed and disappeared once again into the gloom. I soon heard a familiar scream and jumped.

"Now!" Indigo yelled and they both lunged at us. They were both impossibly fast and I could soon see Nox's glistening fangs and the bone white skin of Indigo.

I had no time to think about Angel's scream. I had no time to think about Blaze. I had no time to wonder why the smell of Vivian's blood permeated the air. I had no time to even wonder if Rose was still alive. I only had enough time to dive out of the way and Indigo blew past me.

"They warned me that you'd be fast," Indigo chuckled, "I'm glad that they weren't lying. This would've been over too fast."

"That would have been such a pity," I sneered as I charged. She expected my attack though, and sidestepped. I knew that she would do that, so I tripped her as she stepped. She had underestimated me, so she stumbled.

That gave me enough time to pull out a pocket knife from my boot and lash at her arm. She wasn't going down that easily.

She shifted into a pitch black panther. It was even harder to see the giant cat in the looming dark of the factory.

"Now!" I shrieked as she pounced. Willow jumped down from the ceiling and threw out her hands. She harnessed the electricity and friction in the air and used it to light up our surroundings. The darkness was the Hunter's greatest weapon besides themselves, so now we were on a bit more leveled playing field. Indigo was momentary blinded by the sudden light.  
"Dylan!" I ordered, "Protect Willow!"

The Hunters would try to get to her to plunge the factory back into darkness. We couldn't let that happen.

"Ngh!" Blaze cried out. In my brief break from fighting, I saw that Nox had dislocated Blaze's shoulder. Thank god, Blaze wasn't bitten.

Iggy and Nudge jumped down from the ceiling. Iggy distracted Nox while Nudge popped Blaze's shoulder back in. When that was done, they all surrounded Nox to fight.

Indigo shifted back into her human form, "Clever, Maximum. I now understand why no one was able to bring you back. You use your mind and body to fight."

"Your opinion means so much to me," I snarled at her. While I was bantering with Indigo, something snuck up behind me.

Razina grabbed my neck and started to squeeze, "Do you think you're so great? Do you think you're better than us?"  
"Razina," Indigo snapped, "She's mine."

Razina huffed and shoved me at Indigo. I was gasping for breath and willing the black dots away when Indigo put me in a chokehold and placed a dagger to my throat.

"The two siblings are taken care of," Razina said happily, picking at her nails, "But since Itex wanted them for testing, I left them alive. Just barely, though."  
"Good, Razina. You did not disappoint," Indigo bared her teeth in a smile, "Now, what should we do with poor Maximum here?"  
"Kill her!" Razina laughed crazily. I could only stay motionless because of the knife at my throat. It was already causing small beads of blood to drip down. She was teasing me.

"I think you're right," Indigo said coolly. She withdrew the knife for a second to place its tip to my throat.

"NO!" Fang roared and jumped down from the ceiling. He grabbed the knife and used the butt of it to knock Indigo out. Nudge snuck up behind Razina.

"Hey, Razina! I'm going to knock you out! _Hear_ that?" Nudge laughed cruelly and grabbed Razina's hair.

"Do not make fun of her because she's deaf," I hissed at Nudge.

Nudge's face was swept of the meanness instantly, "Yes Max!"

Nudge swiftly pressed a pressure point in the struggling girl's neck and knocked her out. The girl was out cold in seconds.

"I found Rose," Willow said and unlocked the cage she was in. Rose ran up to me and gave me a large hug.

"What do we do with them?" Iggy asked, kicking a body, "Kill them?"  
"We do not kill," I hissed.

"I do!" Nox laughed derangedly. She was the first to be knocked out, so we had assumed that she was taken care of.

Nox was holding Shimmer's head and shoulders. She stretched them so that Shimmer's neck was easily accessible.

"Didn't you wonder where she was?" Nox laughed, "Or were you too busy?"

Shimmer's eyelids fluttered briefly and rested on me.  
"Max, take care of the Flocks. Blaze will be your new second in-" Shimmer gasped in pain as Nox bit through her skin.

"AH!" I shrieked as I barreled through my family to reach her. My super speed spread to my legs and I got there before Nox could blink. I punched her in the face and ripped her away from Shimmer. I tossed Nox to Fang for him to take care of.

I cradled Shimmer's infected body in my arms and shrieked again. This wasn't fair!

"Why didn't you fight her?" I whispered harshly, "We all know that you could've gotten away."

"Maybe," Shimmer said simply, "But I knew that even if I did, she would have just gone after someone else."  
"You're such a martyr," I laughed sadly, "You're my best friend, you know that?"  
"You're my best friend, too. We're like sisters," she coughed, "I think Nox gave me all of the venom she could in that short time. I've got three minutes, tops."

I hugged her, "Remember the first time we met? You said that you would get me out of the cages. You said that you would save me."  
"Did I?" she smiled hopefully.

"Yeah," I chuckled, "You did."

"I can heal her!" Rose cried and ran up to us, "Let me heal her!"  
Shimmer gently pushed Rose's healing hand away, "Nox's venom is too strong. I can barely talk. Don't waste your energy."  
"What should we do?" Rose asked in great pain.

"Just…stay by me." Shimmer breathed and closed her eyes. I would have thought that she was already dead if it hadn't been for the faint rise and fall of her chest.

I held Shimmer's body, Blaze and Rose each took one of her hands, and Dylan stroked her hair. She would flinch as she felt herself being eaten away and we would all stiffen as we imagined what she was going through.

The Flock realized that this was an event just for my new Flock and they hung back. I appreciated that.

An hour later, Shimmer took her last breath and suddenly laid still. Fresh tears ran down my face and dropped down to Shimmer's.

"She's gone," I said mournfully and stood up with her body in my hands. Shimmer still looked just as lovely in death as she did in life. Her thick black hair was shining and orderly. Her pale ski was unmarred except for the fang marked in her neck. She didn't look like a corpse.

"This way," Dylan laid an arm around my shoulders and led my out of the factory and into the night. The cool air seemed to comfort me. Shimmer always loved this time of night.

I was foolish to think that we could get through this without any casualties.


	24. Funeral

**I'm sad to see this story go, but it's almost time for it to end. Sighs. Well anyway, I promised my friend Brice that she would appear somewhere, so here she is!**

**Brice: Lalalalala…rainbow mustaches…Hi!**

**Without Further Adieu,**

MAXPOV

Shimmer felt light in my arms. She felt lighter than the air. Even so, I couldn't bring myself to fly with her body dangling from my hold. My flights were a time of happiness, but this wasn't one of those times.

We all walked in formation through the streets of New York to reach our home once again. We trudged so slowly that it was morning and we still hadn't reached home.

Humans were starting to notice us.

"That girl that's asleep with the black hair looks hurt," a man in a business suit told me, "Do you want me to take you to a hospital."  
"She's dead," I said blankly.

"Oh," he said quietly. We were strangers and he didn't want to get mixed up in our drama. He walked away. This opened my ears to other whispers.

"Is that the Flock?"

"I think they are! I wonder who those other people are."

"They look pretty banged up."

"Why are they all carrying somebody else?"

I was carrying Shimmer, of course. Blaze was carrying Angel, Nudge was carrying Gazzy, Dylan was carrying an unconscious Nox, Fang was carrying Indigo, and Iggy was carrying Razina.

"I know who they are!" a girl wearing white and pink said, "That's Max's new Flock! The girl that Max is holding is Shimmer! Shimmer saved me from getting hit by a car once!"

"Oh, I recognize her! Shimmer helped me when I had fallen down late at night and couldn't get up!" a teenage boy said.

Suddenly, it seemed that everyone had gotten helped by Shimmer at some point. They all thought that she was their guardian angel, or because of Shimmer's long black hair and pale skin, that death itself was saving them.

Was this where Shimmer went on her nighttime flies? She was always saving people?

"Shimmer was killed," I told the group of those saved by Shimmer, "She died a noble death."  
They all fell silent. Their eyes said it all. Life. Wasn't. Fair. This was where saving people all night got her? Murdered?

Prayers of all different religions started to fill the air for Shimmer.

"May Shimmer find the blessed lands,"

"To god we belong and to god we return."

"For sake of her sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and the whole world."

"May almighty god have mercy on their soul."

I chuckled, "May God see that he has a kick butt, truly pure soul and accept her without a moment's delay."

Filled with a bit more hope for the future now, we continued on our way. We were spotted and recognized a few times, but nothing happened that was as major as what had just transpired.

It's funny that you seem to know a person a bit more when they were dead than when they were alive. I never figured Shimmer for a knight in shining armor kind of girl. I thought that she'd only save her family. I never thought…

**TIME SKIP: TO FUNERAL DAY**

I was wearing a tight fitting black dress with see-through sleeves and I dutifully stared at the shining, wooden box in front of us. Only my new Flock had come since we were the onlyWe were back at Colorado in the forest somewhere because today, we were burying Shimmer.

Shimmer…the first time we talked, she was aghast at what Dylan and I had come to. She promised that she would get help us. Now, I understood what she really meant.

I thought that she meant that she would help get us out of the shock collars and school. She did do that, but that's not what she meant. She meant that she'd help us get back to our original kick-butt forms.

She succeeded.

Willow gently let a handful of dirt slip through her fingers and it made a sound like rain when it hit the coffin, "Shimmer, you were the only one who could knock Max off one of her great ideas. You were the only one that she'd really listen to. You were the one who made her stay. You kept this family together. Now that you're gone, we're going to work really hard to stay together because I know that you'd want that."

Willow choked on her own words and stepped back to grip Blaze's waist tightly. Blaze was wearing black skinny jeans and a black tank top.

Rose stepped forwards next, "Shimmer, I know that you never cared for fashion much. You were never superficial. But even though you didn't care about fashion at all, you spent hours flipping through my magazines with me to help me find the perfect outfits and the cutest jewelry and make up. You were too self sacrificing for your own good."

Rose stepped back to let Blaze go next. Blaze took a deep, unsteady breath and took her handful of dirt.

"Shimmer, when I ran away, you set out to find me. I went off with Dylan instead of you, and that got you hurt. You didn't mind, though. You never did. You were like a sister to me. I love and you I miss you, but you would want us to go on, " Blaze reached out and grabbed my hand with her free one, "Like the family we are."

She dropped the dirt and the sound it made against the wooden box was like wind through the leaves.

Dylan went next, "Shimmer, I didn't really know you. I didn't stick around long enough to have a bond with you, either. All I know is that you took care of Max while I was gone, and for that I am eternally grateful."

Dylan's turn was over and everyone looked at me. I let go of Rose's hand that I was holding and stood closer to Shimmer's grave.

"At the last funeral I went to," I croaked, "I didn't speak. I couldn't. But I'm going to speak now because you give me strength. You're my best friend, my sister, and my savior. You pick me up when I fall down. You slap me when I'm being an idiot. Whenever I was about to step off the deep end, you steadied me. When Dylan left, I was strong because you and the Flock needed me to be. Now that you're gone, I feel lost. But I'm going to be strong again because that's what you want me to be."

I relaxed my hand and let the earth sift through my fingers and heard it hit the coffin. Mine didn't make a light, airy sound. When it hit the wood, a large boom erupted that shook the trees.

Something wet hit my face and I knew that it wasn't one of my tears. This water drop was cold.

I looked up and saw that the booming sound was of thunder. It was starting to rain.

"Dylan, take the younger kids home," I commanded, "I don't want anyone getting sick from hypothermia."

"Whatever you say, Max." Dylan granted. Her took my little girl's hands and led them away, into the forest and in the direction of home.

I took out a shovel and started to enclose the shining wood of the coffin with chunky dirt. This grave had taken us all four hours to dig, but it was going to take less to fill it back up.

Blaze could have used her telekinesis to get the job done, but she instead picked up the spare shovel and did her job the hard way.

"It feels like I'd be cheating Shimmer if I took the easy way out," Blaze huffed, "She sure didn't."  
"Blaze," I said surely, "Shimmer wanted you to be my second in command."

"Oh," Blaze said quietly.

"I'm not going to do that," I breathed, "You're just a kid. You like to drink, party, and you're going to be busy making out with Iggy. I just want your blessing for my new beta."

"Who is it?" Blaze questioned. I shoveled the last of the soil over the grave and leaned against my shovel.

I stared at where Shimmer lied when I answered. It felt like I was telling this piece of information to her instead of Blaze.

"My new second in command will be Fang," I stated. I had deliberated long and hard about this. Fang had left me, but so had Dylan. Fang never really hurt me. He always said goodbye and he always had his reasons. Dylan did too. The main difference between the two was that Fang wasn't afraid to challenge me. I would never know if I was doing anything wrong if Dylan was my beta.

"Are you going to give him a chance?" Blaze asked quietly.

This question caused myself to debate the answer in my head.

"Yes," I sighed, "I told them that if we survived the battle, then I'd give them all a chance. I don't go back on my word."


	25. Propose

**This is the end, edited on 9/9/12.**

**Without Further Adieu,**

MAXPOV

Indigo, Razina, and Nox were tied up beside each other. We were certain that they were unconscious because a fair amount of painkillers had been inserted into their system.

We were sending them off to a zoo. They didn't deserve to die. No, they didn't deserve to be let off that easily. They would live out the rest of their lives in captivity in a large biodome made of steel and iron. There were no escape routes. I had checked.

These girls had all worked together to kill Shimmer. I felt no remorse or guilt for sentencing them to this. For the murder of my dearest friend, they'll be forced to being the center of gawking and disgust until they die.

They would never again kill. They would never again hurt an innocent mutant. They would never again take away someone from their family.

Fang put his arm around my shoulders and I leaned into his embrace. We'd revealed to the press what happened because we wanted Itex to know that nothing could beat us, not even the Hunters. Fang's old Flock had flown over and Star had immediately caught Dylan's eye. It worked out perfectly. Star loved to be pampered and Dylan loves to pamper his girl. That left Fang and me, and I was miraculously happy with that. I had always known that we were best friends, but only now had I realized that we were truly meant to be together.

Rose had exposed the truth of what happened to Vivian. I was disappointed and furious that she had betrayed us, but I was sad that she died. It didn't have to be that way, but she made her own choices. I was sad that Rose had to see it happen, though.

Some workers came to load the three Hunters into a truck. They were humans, and I didn't want them to get hurt.

"The one with the tan skin is poisonous," I warned them, "And she's faked being unconscious before."

"She the snake?" a man with a southern drawl asked. I nodded in reply and he transported her into the truck with quick, experienced movements. The others were handled a bit more roughly.

They drove off and I saw the Ad written on the side.

**Be the ****FIRST ****to see the dangerous mutants called…THE HUNTERS!**

"Appropriate," I murmured, "I just hope they use bulletproof glass."

If not, I shuddered as I pictured the snake launching through the sides of the exhibit, killing all of the visitors. I wouldn't put it past her.

"They will," Fang reassured me, "They're not stupid."

"I know." I sighed, "I just don't want a repeat of what happened to Shimmer."

"Are you sure about…us?" Fang said suddenly, "I've broken your heart three times; when I left, when I left again, and when I kicked you out."

"Four times," I corrected him, "I was really hurt when I saw that you replaced me with Maya. But I can forgive, I just won't forget."

"How can you forgive that I hurt you so many times?" he whispered into my hair. I turned around ever so slightly to stare into the depths of his obidian eyes. His hair had gotten longer, I noticed. He had been growing it out ever since I'd mentioned my preference to his hair length. Now, it was almost back to the length it had been before Angel was kidnapped.

I reached up to kiss him. He had gotten taller, I realized. Last time, I didn't have to stretch so much.

"Like this," I whispered as I pressed my lip against his. Immediately, all doubt was pushed out of his mind and he kissed me back.

After awhile of kissing, I broke away, "We should go check on everybody."

"We should," he agreed before giving me another kiss. This one was chaste, like a prince kissing his princess. I made a pretty kick ass princess, though, and he made a totally unstereotypical prince.

We stepped back into the house to go check on the kids. I held Fang's hand as I led him through the house that was unfamiliar to us both after being away from it for some time.

Both my old and new flocks and Fang's old Flock had combined, and the penthouse room of the hotel just wasn't big enough anymore. We all had decided to move back to the E-house in the Colorado Mountains. It was closer to Shimmer, too.

Blaze and Iggy were making out in the study. Remembering that Fang and I were doing much the same thing a few minutes ago, I left them be. It was slightly disturbing that they were kissing each other, as they shared the same DNA, but love knows no bounds. I suppose I should be grateful that they weren't actually siblings.

Gazzy was without his best friend, but was talking with shining eyes to Willow. Apparently since she could control electricity, this allowed a whole new range of possibilities in bomb making to open up. Willow was just as ecstatic as Gazzy. Yay, _another_ pyromaniac. At least Gazzy had a new best friend, but I couldn't exactly see them being together in the future. Both were still grossed out by the opposite sex when it came to dating.

Kate and Nudge were flipping through fashion magazines and commenting on different celebrities' hotness and gossiping about them. Holden and Ratchet were sitting on the couch and looking at the girls with unmasked interest. I looked from Nudge to Holden with interest. I hope that Holden would make a move soon, since Nudge really didn't want to be alone. I couldn't care less about when happened to Kate and Ratchet, though.

Angel and Rose were trying on each other's clothes. They were apparently the same size and were going to share a wardrobe. I can't wait until they start fighting over clothes, I thought mentally. Angel rolled her eyes as she read my mind, but her eyes never broke contact with Rose's. My two little girls.

And last but not least, Dylan and Star were kissing inside Star's bedroom. There was glitter _everywhere_ in her room. I didn't approve of her girliness and it was my house, but it wasn't like I spent that much time inside her room. A small ache went through my chest as I saw them so intimately. How could he have gotten into a relationship so quickly? No, I banished the thought, I've went back to Fang just as fast. I had no room to talk.

"Use a condom," I reminded them dryly before shutting the door to Star's room. As far as I knew, everyone in the Flock were virgins. If they wanted to change that fact, then so be it. It wasn't my decision. I just hoped that Angel wouldn't try to investigate what the sounds were, especially not with her mind powers.

"Did you really just say that?" Fang chuckled.

I shrugged, "Dylan's nineteen and Star is eighteen. They can do whatever they want."

"And we're both twenty now," Fang mused, "I think it's time for us to do something."

Oh no. He couldn't be serious. Fang was just laughing at _me_ for bringing it up with Star and Dylan. This wasn't happening. He led me out into the backyard and we stood by our little pond that was filled with Fish that Angel had made friends with.

Fang got down on one knee and I gasped. This...was not what I was expecting. Here I was, thinking he was being a pervert, when...when...my thoughts came to a standstill as he started talking.

"Maximum Ride, you're the bravest girl I have ever known. You managed to save the world and bring together thirteen mutant as a family. I have betrayed your trust time and time again, and each time you always find it in your heart to forgive me. I want to be able to look at you and think to myself, she chose me. If I could do that, I'd die a happy man. Max, will you marry me?"

He took out a small black box from his jacket pocket and opened it. Inside was a small gold band with one small diamond on it. It was plain and simple and I loved it because it was so me.

I decided to throw him for a loop, "You left me, Fang."

His eyes widened in surprise that I didn't say yes to him right away, "Max..."

I held up a finger, "You didn't let me finish. When you left the first time with half of my family, I tried to make it right by just loving Angel and Nudge twice as much. It wasn't the same. When you left the second time, I didn't know how to function. Dylan was always by my side. It wasn't the same. And then you broke my heart by sending me to be a slave to the school. I didn't want to deal with a broken heart anymore, so I tried to forget you. I saw you guys flying once when we first escaped. Shimmer held me back from fighting you. I listened to her and I eventually forgot the pain you guys caused me. It was almost the same. But it wasn't. It will never be the same when you're not with me, by my side. Yes Fang, yes."

"Yes?" Fang broke his usual 'no emotion' rule and gave me a full blown, megawatt smile.

"Yes," I confirmed and enveloped him in a hug that only I can give.


End file.
